Are you an adventure seeker? Personally me, I’m not. Are you someone who prefers to stay home and cook something delicious to consume it in front of the TV? For sure, not me. But from time to time, I feel like either of these. And then imagine, I have to plan a week of vacations for three so different people! So, I’m going to reveal now how to plan a week of Amalfi coast vacations to please all the different tastes. A ready to use Amalfi itinerary below!

Day 0 and Day 1. Where to stay on Amalfi coast – Amalfi, Maiori, Vietri sul Mare or Salerno?

What I call ‘day 0’ is the arrival. And in our case, it was really a zero-pleasure day and night. Delayed for almost 3 hours flight to Naples, as a result – a missed shuttle bus. And therefore, a 150 EUR taxi drive instead of 45 for 3 people by airport shuttle. I was calming myself down saying that life will compensate this disappointment for sure. But what happened later is a carsick sister, completely destroyed by hillside driving ‘a la Italiana’. Well, the most important thing is that at the end we happily ended up in our cozy Amalfi Airbnb villa in the middle of nowhere. But, oh dear, how long it took the driver to find it.

view from our Airbnb 🙂

Tired of life, finally at home, and all of a sudden, our feet caught that Italian nighty restlessness. So, at 10:30 pm on a dark night we headed to almost nowhere, just because our Airbnb host said: ‘there is a pizzeria in the end of the village, and it might be still open’. And voila here we are after 30 min walking up the hill along the roadway we were rewarded by huge pizzas in one of the few restaurants in our village 😊

Next day I promised to be soft and let everyone sleep, without planning anything special for the day. So, the first day of our Amalfi coast vacations was dedicated to walks in the town, gathering information about boats and buses, introduction to the nearby beaches.

But let me just come back to the Airbnb we rented and its’ location. There is a village on the lemony hills called Pogerola di Amalfi, which is also marked as Amalfi and included in Amalfi rentals on Airbnb listings. Once you start searching for accommodation, you’ll understand what I am talking about. In fact, the Pogerola to Amalfi walk takes some 30 min, and the route is all climbing down and then up the stairs. I’ve never felt this much of pain in my calves even after the most exhausting workouts. But every time we used the steps from Pogerola to Amalfi I was proud to lose the pizza calories!

Talking about the stairs… they were embedded in the most picturesque scenery – terraced lemon plantations on hill slopes. The only way locals can move around farms – aka from home to garden, is these stairs. Plus, there is a special vehicle transporting lemons from the lowest plantations to the highest located farms. Imagine it like a cable car moving on above ground placed railways… 😊

Now we can switch to Amalfi. It’s obviously the centre of the Amalfi coast, judging by the name. When I was deciding on our base location, I had a lot of question marks in head especially because of the prices of Amalfi coast hotels. After the trip I clearly see the pros and cons.

So, you should stay in Amalfi:

If you like to be in the centre of everything. Obviously, the best boat tours all depart from the Amalfi ferry port. There are many bus connections with anything up to Naples as well.

If you really need to say your friends that your Amalfi coast vacations took place exactly in Amalfi.

Other than that, you can stay on the hills above Amalfi – in Pogerola village.

Tip: don’t insist on dining in Amalfi, Pogerola has unbeliveable views and a few good restaurants, which will cost you 2x less than in Amalfi centro.

Other than that, there are not too many reasons to stay specifically there. Some Amalfi alternatives below:

Maiori, Amalfi coast – my favourite one! An unusually wide as for the region sandy Maiori beach. It was formed after a strong earthquake, which of course also damaged the historical look of the town of Maiori. But still, if you are not looking to live around very ancient cathedrals and museums, I would suggest Maiori with its’ one and only beach and much lower cost of dining out. Not talking about the fact that the restaurants in Maiori are much more friendly and authentic.

Minoriis a small copy of Maiori. It’s cuter, than the big one, has nice restaurants and if you don’t like its’ tiny beach, the route from Minori to Maiori takes only 15 min walking.

Vietri sul Mare – I couldn’t visit it but seen and been impressed twice on our way to Salerno. It has a beautiful long and wide beach with tempting colourful umbrellas. I’m pretty sure that most of the visitors of Vietri are locals from Salerno, since the second has actually no real beach life. Besides the fact that prices are obviously also lower than in Amalfi, it’s also close to Salerno. Which means that whatever time you arrive to Naples, you can get to Salerno by train/ferry and then either by bus/boat or, worst case, by taxi get to Vietri. This is much more comfortable taking into account the struggles one might face during the Amalfi to Naples airport route.

The above-mentioned towns are very suitable for having your base on Amalfi coast, having some beach life on less pricy sunbeds. But then, of course, moving around all the region in search of adventures by public transport 😊 Wait, Day #2 is coming!

Just to end with accommodation suggestions, some important details about Amalfi. There is no real Amalfi beach – it’s a very small piece of stony land. Sunbeds are 10 EUR comparing to Maiori’s 3 EUR. But it has a must-see cathedral – Duomo di Sant’Andrea. Which, by the way, you can easily visit coming to Amalfi from Vietri or Maiori.

But to point out the definite advantage. From here you can reach all touristic and not so much destinations. There are many things to do on Amalfi coast, once you have access to public transportation. Boat excursions and water taxis from Amalfi to Sorrento, Capri and Positano, boats all along the coast to the previously mentioned small beachside towns. Buses to the villages up in the hills (like ours), Ravello, all along the coast and then, of course, to Praiano, Positano, Sorrento. To be honest, I might have chosen the same location again, knowing that I always prefer to have good public transport connections with the rest of the world. And if I need to hide away from tourists – there are plenty of hills up above Amalfi.

Below in the menu after the article you can read more about the Amalfi coast towns to visit – Maiori, Minori, Ravello and some details about getting there using an airport shuttle from Naples. It includes also recommendations on choosing where to stay on Amalfi coast, and plenty of restaurant options within each of the towns 😊

Now the adventure begins. There are many hiking routes on Amalfi coast, actually you can spend a whole week on Amalfi coast hikes discovering the region by foot. There can’t be anything more beautiful to do in Amalfi. Just have a swimming suit in your backpack to have a beach break – you’ll spot many stairs leading down to beautiful azure waters of Tyrrhenian Sea.

Oh, perhaps if it was a solo trip to costiera Amalfitana I would really do only hiking in Maiori, Minori and Sorrento))

Because I didn’t know a lot about the difficulty of routes mentioned on the web, I decided to start from the easiest one. Sentiero dei Limoni is a Maiori to Minori lemon walk. The path lays along the lemon plantations throughout the hills! As you can understand, locals in the old times, before the coastal road was built, used this route to commute on donkeys or by foot, to deliver lemons to the sales spots. It’s one of the most beautiful Maiori walks with lots of ups and downs, and obviously, even more stairs! But we did it to the extremes, really putting ourselves on a place of a typical Italian lemon-grower.

I couldn’t find a map of this route, only many recommendations and, actually, happy reviews. It’s easier to begin the route in Maiori, the starting point is clearer.

Sentiero dei Limoni or Lemons’ Pathway guide:

Start at the Limonetum in Mairori (or navigate to the tourist office).

Take the Scala Santa stairs on Via Pedamentina. Pass the Maria e Mare Collegiate Church and turn right. Here you can fill your bottles with water. Let the route start as you are on the Via Vena!

Keep straight and follow the Sentiero dei Limoni waymarks. They are either very noticeable and made of tile, or just tiny lemon stickers on trees or poles.

Writing you directions for the route itself doesn’t make much sense. Advices like ‘turn right at the carob tree’ or ‘pass the huge laurel bush’ didn’t help me. After all, neither the carob, nor the laurel are eternal. Just don’t be afraid to get lost! Then it’s a real adventure, worst case, you’ll just go back and down. And remember: there are many locals, and other travelers you’ll meet on your way. All of the locals will be able to advise you the correct direction. Well, in getting lost I have firsthand experience.

I said before that we really lived a day of an Amalfi lemon-grower. That’s because instead of keeping straight on our lemon way, I was sure that climbing up the stairs is the correct choice. So, we climbed the hill with lemon farms precisely up to the top, until there was nowhere to climb anymore. Then I remembered the farmer we met a bit before on our way, he was with donkeys, carrying lemons. He was my only hope, since going lower and taking another turn didn’t help either and took us to even wilder forest. Luckily, we heard the donkeys’ bells ringing nearby and our farmer wasn’t long in coming. That’s when he impressed me by saying that the plain, flat route much below us is the right one!

Everyone who passed the route on their own or with a guide without making our mistake will tell you that it’s an easy hike. I can confirm that if you are going to repeat my mistake, see the most impressive farms which stay hidden away from tourists, you will have a moderate to difficult hike. But that’s your choice, or the destiny’s! Whatever you choose, a hike on your own, without any guides is the real Amalfi lemon experience!

Returning on the right track we finally started seeing the route indicators again, water taps and more stairs where matching the picturesque views in the best way. You will finish the hike in Minori, reaching the centre after overcoming another thousand of stairs down from the hill. That’s why I say it’s better to start in Maiori – the start point is not only clearer to find, but also begins less exhausting keeping your energy for later. And after all, this is where you should stop for a while to taste the famous Minori Limoncello. I’m telling more details regarding Minori and Maiori separately.

Restaurants in Minori. Beach in Maiori

The day was all ahead since we arrived in Minori noon time. Of course, our little breakfast was all forgotten after 3 hours in the hills and we, first of all, looked for a restaurant in Minori open for lunch. I always prefer the small Italian restaurants in the ‘old town’ rather than the beachside ‘lido bars’. Unless the goal is the beach.

We had a typical Italian lunch in Minori with pasta and lemonade (after the lemon path we finally wanted to feel the taste) in A Ricetta. A specialty to highlight – fiori di zucca fritti (fried stuffed zucchini flowers). The cultural program was over for today the rest was dedicated to beach. Of course, in Maiori!

It was a 15-20 min walk to Maiori (unlike the 3-hour walks to Minori in the hills, how easier is modern life!). The rest of the story is very obvious – 3 sunbeds at a Spanish-Argentine beach bar costed us 9 EUR, including 1 umbrella.

For our way back I chose the Maiori to Amalfi ferry. Boats from Maiori to Amalfi are very frequent and operated by TravelMar. They have an application which works well for checking the ferry timetables, but the online ticket purchase doesn’t work. Which is no problem, since you can buy the tickets at the port.

Don’t leave Maiori without having a gelato! There is a great ice cream shop on Corso Regina in Maiori which I wanted to share with you. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember the name. But you will notice it by a large queue and artisan look.

Restaurants in Pogerola

As we arrived in Amalfi we took a SITA bus to Pogerola, our village, and had a very local dinner in a family-run restaurant with an open terrace and what a view! 😊 But instead of focusing only on this one, let’s cover all the restaurants in Pogerola. I’m lucky since there are not that many of them to list:

Pogerola Osteria Rispoli – the family-run restaurant I mentioned now. Really tasty house wine and huge portions of pasta. No pizza here, sorry. The terrace is the biggest advantage of the place – open, no glass or plastic separating you from the magnificent view over the lemon plantations and the deep green hills. And by the way, it’s very inexpensive, just as everything in Pogerola. I guess it was 3 EUR for 0,5 l of wine comparing to 8 or 9 EUR for the same quantity in Amalfi.

La Capannina in Pogerola di Amalfi – this is the pizzeria recommended by our Airbnb host. I would suggest you use this as a pizza take away spot, not for dining. Although the terrace is more fancy, let’s say, but the waiters are very slow and far not welcoming. So, I have my bad memories about those guys. Their terrace also has a great view, but it’s all behind the window, no open-air siting.

La Carcara da Gignio – this one, unfortunately, we didn’t try out. If you experienced the food in this restaurant, please share your opinion in the comments below! Based on the photos and google reviews they are very good.

Day 3 – Cooking workshops in Sorrento. Amalfi – Sorrento bus

In this area workshops and any other ‘amalfitano’ experiences are quite pricy comparing to the rest of Italy I’ve been to. For example, a culinary class in Calabria was 35 EUR, here – you won’t find anything for less than 60 EUR. Well, tickets were bought, accommodation paid, I was already hooked by Amalfi, so nothing to do, but going for the other bills as well. And I decided that you haven’t been to Italy, if there was no culinary experience during the trip.

After long research I faced a dilemma of either booking via an agency when I wouldn’t know who would do the cooking class, or contacting a restaurant/cook directly, but then there is no organized transfer to the place. Still out of these two I prefer to struggle with the route, rather than a possibility of having a non-Italian as a chef teaching me to make pizza. So, my search got filtered more and at this stage I realized that unless you go to an ‘agriturismo’ (a country house, usually not easily reachable), there are cooking classes only in Sorrento. That’s how we ended up there, in the city of art!

We booked two classes at Old Taverna Sorrentina – a pastry and a pizza making class. And because you are supposed to eat what you cook I was precautious and placed them on different days. After all, it’s a better idea to pay, learn and eat, rather than just pay and eat as in a restaurant.

The organizers of the workshop are a typical Italian couple, where the man is the Chef, but the woman is the strict accountant of his generosity. It was very funny to observe them, felt like watching an old Italian comedy. Guigliermo, the Chef, always tried to cook some more things, use more ingredients, while his wife always had to put him back into effective business running mode. So usual Italian family negotiations 😊

They have a cafeteria & gelateria on one of the central and touristy streets of Sorrento. And then a kitchen used for their cafeteria is also used for the workshops. Which is also interesting, when else would I end up on a professional restaurant kitchen?

The pastry workshop was intense. We learned making the Italian pastry cream, lemon cake, crema Chantilly, sponge cake, a lot of information about how & when to add lemon to your pastries, and, of course, tiramisu. It was a simple one with lady fingers in a martini glass. But again, masterpiece is in details, which we now know! Afterwards, as expected, we had to consume all prepared and even managed to take a lemon cake with us home 😊

What about Sorrento? If you decide to go on holidays here, you will end up shopping every single day. There are too many shops of all kinds, both touristic with souvenirs and also designer boutiques. Staying at a secluded location helped us avoid spending on stuff. And guess what, 80% of the souvenirs and presents I bought during this day trip to Sorrento.

Sorrento beach on the water. Sorrento - Positano - Capri ferry

Sorrento beaches on the water

Besides the shops, beaches are something else to point out. It was the first time I’ve seen a sunbed & umbrella costing 21 EUR… In Amalfi – it was 8 or 10, in Maiori 3 EUR. The logic behind pricing was already clear to me – the closer to Capri the higher the prices fly. Plus, the beaches in Sorrento are somewhat special. There is a very tiny sandy part as usually, and, surprisingly, it’s mainly a public beach. Then people got very entrepreneurial and built wooden pontoons over the sea with sunbeds, changing rooms, restaurants and bars. For only entering you pay 5 EUR, for the rest – as mentioned above.

To be honest, it was very tempting to get onto those pontoons, their stairs were leading to crystal clear and deep azure water. But me being me, I said I’d better pay this money for a boat tour, rather than a sunbed. So, we run into the port and I checked out every kiosk asking if they have a ferry departing sometimes now towards Amalfi. And it ended up as the most beautiful sailing trip on Amalfi coast.

At one of the last kiosks I was lucky to find the following itinerary match:

Sorrento to Capri ferry, 40 min break in Capri.

Then you take the same boat from the port to Positano

After a short stop in Positano you’ll head towards Amalfi.

As a result, we officially visited both Capri and Positano, without planning to do so. And in case you are going to repeat my Amalfi coast vacations itinerary, I wouldn’t recommend getting off the boat in Capri. The stop is 40 min, one would imagine seeing something during this break. But, in fact, all you can see in Capri in summer in the port area is only crowds, like on a market place. People arriving and departing, taxis, boats, busses, people hitting each other. And then as a punishment, when you come to your boat 15 min before departure you’ll already see a huge queue in front of you, since it’s Capri – many people, and whatever vehicle is around, it’s always overbooked.

But leaving this negativity behind, the seaside experience was beautiful. Capri is definitely a must explore, but not in summer, in autumn or winter, just for the sake of rocks and the greenery. Positano is a town which I regret for not visiting, if we had another day, that would be the plan for sure. A heaven for ‘instagrammers’ in love with Italian terracotta architecture.

Lots of fun is guaranteed is you board a ferry with a hat on! 😀

Useful info:

Ferry from Sorrento to Capri, from Capri to Amalfi (with a stop in Positano) – NLG Ferries

I’d call it a relax by the sea. Of course, it didn’t go that smooth and plans always get adjusted on the way. But not all is simple here. The only way of commuting had to be sea transport. So, I checked out Travelmar and the furthest destination to the East was Salerno. After a few hours there I planned to get a boat to Cetara (a traditional fishermen village on the coast). Then from Cetara either a stop in Maiori or Minori or getting a boat directly to Amalfi. The initial plan as following:

Amalfi to Salerno ferry arriving to Porto Turistico, next to Concordia train station. Obviously the boats are always full of people with suitcases going mostly to Naples by train from Salerno.

Salerno to Cetara boat

Cetara to Maiori or Cetara to Amalfi boat

All schedules here and of course you can just simply take a Salerno Amalfi ferry to shorten the way back. I consider it as a budget version of a boat tour on Amalfi coast 🙂 All the real ‘tours’ would start at a 100 EUR price pp. With TravelMar, I guess, I didn’t spend more than 20 EUR per person.

Obviously, I planned to fry ourselves a bit on a beach in Salerno, but… Salerno appeared to be out of beach destinations. To clarify your doubts about this city I have to say it’s not worth staying here at all. Salerno is an industrial port, as a result, it’s more dangerous walking along the promenade at night, and even day time I felt some looks and intentions. The beach is industrial as well, you wouldn’t want to swim in that unclear water and non-romantic scenery. And besides that, going a bit more to the East, we found another public beach which wasn’t swimmable because of the stormy waves. That’s right, I have to mention that the sea in Salerno is always full of high waves. Which is the reason surfing being popular around, but not the beach life.

At the same time, I discovered a beautiful beach just next to Salerno in Vietri sul Mare. But I already spoke about it in the beginning. So, if you are looking for beaches in Salerno, just take a boat or bus to Vietri!

Because of this we decided to use our time wisely and spend it on lunch. And another surprise was on its’ way. For the first time in our consumer lives we had a pizza with croquettes. Literally, 4 large croquettes on a pizza dough. The restaurant would be nice, but everything including my tuna salad was over salted. If you like salty, try it out – Pizzeria Saporito.

A positive aspect of Salerno is its’ empty streets. I mean, you won’t have a problem taking a photo in front of its’ cathedral, trying to wake up early before other tourists do, so you have the stairs empty. Not this city. All the streets and cathedrals are yours. We even entered the Salerno cathedral with an ongoing wedding.

From Salerno we bought tickets for a boat to Cetara. It’s around 15 min. Getting closer to the little port of this village my cousin made a facial expression of the most unsatisfied person in the world, since she saw a small and crowded beach, which was additionally serving as a port. So, I did something very criminal. Knowing that the boat continues to Maiori and then to Amalfi, I told them to sit and act as we go to Maiori. At least I knew what beach to expect there! The difference in price is 2 EUR, so I don’t consider it as a big sin, bearing in mind how much I donated to the maritime business of the region during our Amalfi coast vacations in total.

The evening finished on our much-loved beach in Maiori. With sunbeds and umbrellas being 3 EUR only. And a dinner in a hidden restaurant – for the first time here, my phone felt lost and couldn’t locate a place. The restaurant was La Tana del Luppolo and while the food was really good, I hated the service with all my heart. They had waiters which could only take an order, or the ones which were only supposed to take your empty plates away. This led me asking for something from a person who’s taking my plate and never getting what I asked for, so waiting for that one and only waiter who can take orders. Then we had to wait some 20 min to finally get the check, and basically the waiters were just rude.

Again, the food made it worth visiting, all the meals were creative, and the plating was well done. The only remark I have is that shrimps fried in their shell were impossible to eat, I constantly had to clean them which made the dining experience less and less enjoyable.

Day 5 – The most beautiful town on Amalfi Coast. Ravello. Villa Rufolo. Frozen yoghurt and Ravello-Amalfi walk

I heard a lot about Ravello, and not from touristic sources. For people coming from the IT industry Ravello is related to a cloud-based software, which is named after the place where it was developed. In Ravello. After seeing a few photos of the town it’s easy to understand how people come up with industry changing ideas. Ravello is inspiring, perhaps in that blooming heaven your mind gets a better connection to the Universe to source creativity.

So, we had a free day which I had to fill in with a nice town. It was either Ravello or Positano. Considering the vicinity of the first one, and the fact that’s it’s not a coastal location, we headed towards Ravello.

Once you find yourself in that bus going up and up to the hills through little, secluded countryside locations, green and shady, you literally want to press the stop button and say you go by foot, whatever it takes. Actually, at the end that’s what we did once we found out about the Ravello to Amalfi walk.

I don’t like those Amalfi coast must sees, but despite the fact it being very touristy, Villa Rufolo in Ravello is a not to miss while on the coast. We didn’t take a tour, so I know little about the villa itself, besides the info on the brochure. Although its’ most charming part is far not the architecture, but the garden, maintained all through the long history by descendants of the original gardeners. Well, these famous Ravello gardens, such a colourful piece of land, inspired Wagner for the setting of the Klingsor in Parsifal. No surprise that everyone is in love with the garden ever since. By the way, for classical music lovers, the villa hosts a Wagnerian concert every year and generally impresses by the many artistic venues. More about Ravello events below 😉

Eating in Ravello & the secret Ravello – Amalfi walking path

Talking about Ravello as a town. I would live here, perhaps 😊 But, it would take a while to understand the decent places to eat – I’m not looking for expensive and posh places, just good food for reasonable price. I had some nice restaurants and cafeterias saved in my list for Ravello, but since it was Sunday, everything was closed, or didn’t exist anymore in this world. So, we ended up on the main square in Duomo Café Ravello. Their pastry looks very attractive, so maybe I ordered the wrong thing. But this was the worst tuna salad in my life so far. When you order a tuna salad you imagine it having some vegetables, corn, in Spain even boiled eggs and asparagus. Here it was plain salad leaves cut on small pieces and tuna, which was incredibly salty. And, of course, the price of this salad was something like 10 EUR. But I had a positive culinary experience in Ravello as well, about it below.

Ravello to Amalfi walk

From the top of the villa’s garden you’ll see an eye-catching cobblestone route. Find the starting point of this path when exiting the villa and turning on the left. There will be an amazing frozen yogurt shop (I recommend the plain one, without toppings) and following the path down the hill you’ll find those cobblestones. Where does it lead? Almost wherever you want! Amalfi, Atrani, Maiori, Minori, Scala, Castiglione. All these depending where you turn – left or right.

We went to the right towards Amalfi, crossing Atrani. Just like the Lemons’ Path this is the old route connecting the towns, with stairs and lots of ups and downs. And again, as the previous staircase hike we took, this also opens unbelievable views in front of you. The sea always impresses more when you look from the top.

We walked along beautiful villas, cafeterias located in the middle of nowhere waiting for god knows whom to buy a coffee, abandoned houses and then we were disappointed by getting out on the roadway. Luckily if you cross the road you’ll find more route indicators taking you down the stairs, so we didn’t have to walk along the cars even for five minutes! At some point the path will take you to Atrani, where you can maybe have a longer break than we did. A beautiful little town, very similar to others on the coast of course, but choosing your favourite città is always a matter of taste. Our evening finished at the main square of Amalfi though with some aperol and prosecco. And then a late-night pizza in Pogerola at La Capannina, which I already mentioned above. This time we were impressed by a pizza covered with French fries on top of it.

Day 6 – pizza cooking class in Sorrento. Recipes!

As promised we returned to Sorrento one more time before leaving the coast. This time a pizza cooking class waited for us in Sorrento and since we learned from our mistakes the last time, we had only a small breakfast before it. So first the chef explained us that there are only 2 types of pizza – good pizza and fast pizza.

Pizza Napoletana. Dough recipe

To prepare a fast pizza you need around 5-6 hours. Exactly, not half an hour as some recipes state. In fact, eating a pizza cooked on a fast track, in less than 5 hours is unhealthy for your digestion. Talking about the good pizza – it takes 36 hours to rise the dough. The first stage is fermentation, then there is a long process of dividing the molecules of gluten, to smaller ones. Can’t use scientific terms, because of our Italian-English conversation, but I got the point very clear. Once you eat pizza after 36 hours of rising you won’t feel that heaviness in your stomach (unless you eat kilograms of it). Unlike the pizza I often tried around the world, you feel light as before after a piece of Guglielmo’s pizza. I’ll share both recipes below.

The ingredients are the same in both variations:

(for 3 pizzas)

500 g flour ‘00’

300 g water

15 g salt

1 thumb nail sized pinch of fresh yeast

Make a flour ‘mountain’ on the table and start doing a whole on its’ top, creating a ‘Vezuvio’ volcano like shape. Add salt and water drop by drop mixing well the flour inside the volcano crater with a fork, but not letting the walls break. Dissolve the yeast in the last portion of water and then add it to the flour. The walls now should be part of the dough, you can switch to working out the dough with your hands. The way you work it out matters a lot. One hand keeps the dough stable, the other palm stretches it without touching with the fingers. This way, back and force, switching the sides of the dough you work on, adding some flour gently. As soon as the dough is soft and smooth, form a ball, make a cross on the top, cover with film and wait.

Good pizza: For 1 hour you let it grow in room temperature. Then keep it 24 hours in the fridge, where the growth stops, but the division of gluten is on. Afterwards you keep it 1h more in room temperature and finally separate on 285 g pieces as well. Rise these pieces for 6h in room temperature.

Tip 1: once you divide the dough on pizza sized pieces you might wonder where and how to keep them. Italians usually free up a kitchen drawer for that. This way they are covered and don’t dry out and are definitely in room temperature.

Tip 2: if you want to experiment with flours, you can use 200 g gray or wholegrain flour and 800 g of ‘00’ fine white flour. So, keep the proportion as 2:8

Mix all the ingredients besides the cheese. Cover the pizza dough (keep in mind to roll it in a way you leave the boarders, which are going to be crunchy). Add the mozzarella on the top. Bake the pizza at the maximum temperature of your oven for 1,5 min only! (390 C when in wood-fired pizza oven, so preheat your normal kitchen oven well to achieve its’ possible maximum)

Pizza Marinara:

San Manzano tomato sauce (as prepared above, with salt and oil)

Cherry tomatoes

Garlic

Lemon Pizza:

Fat cream

Zest of lemon freshly grated on top of the dough covered with cream

Mozzarella

Primavera:

San Manzano tomato sauce (as prepared above)

Cherry tomatoes

Mozzarella

Rucola

Parmigiano

Focaccia:

Oil

Salt

Pepper

Calzone:

200g ricotta

200g mozzarella

2 egg yolks

2 tsp Parmigiano

2 pinches of salt

Fresh basil

When it comes to calzone, cover its’ top with some pieces of cherry tomatoes and mozzarella to make it heavier and to avoid exploding balloons on top of your pizza calzone.

This mouthwatering feast was the last day of our trip. On our way back on the next day we had some troubles in the airport with Ryanair who charged us 100 EUR for exceeding 2 cabin bag sizes. I’ve never seen an airline checking your luggage in such a disgusting way. All of us had standard sized hardcase suitcases, so they couldn’t increase by us pushing in more things (actually we didn’t bough anything which would make our bags increase comparing to the flight to Napoli). However, as it happens with me second year in a raw, somehow, they let you fly in Italy without any checks, but once you are leaving, the importance of checking not only the height but also width of your bag somehow grows to extremes. You buy the priority ticket to have that small clutch hanging on you, you buy a seat, so you can stay together with your friends/relatives, and then they decide to charge another 100 EUR because such a ‘why not’.

Despite Ryanair flies to so many tempting destinations I promised never ever again get on board of their plane.

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The Macedonia travel itinerary below is kindly provided by Experience Balkan, an incoming tour operator for the Balkans and especially for the Republic of Macedonia. See their contacts at the bottom of the page, in case you are planning your Balkan holiday 🙂

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Republic of Macedonia is a beautiful country settled on the central part of the Balkan Peninsula. It is still an unknown tourist destination, but it has lots of things to offer to its’ tourists. It is a small multi-colored piece of land, which attracts visitors with its natural beauty and tradition and these insignia, which leave a mark of recognition and singularity, are the reason why you should visit our country. The natural resources of Macedonia are interesting for adventurers and visitors who want to discover different countries. The beautiful lakes and the mineral baths are appealing for vacation and enjoyment. The mountains, decorated with different kinds of trees, but also with their mysterious caves, springs and picturesque waterfalls are a pleasure for everyone who wants to get away in the beauty of each season. Hundreds of churches and monasteries scattered around the country speak about the tradition forged in the stones and it is a real challenge to visit them all. The archeological excavations call all the passionate researchers of the past to tell their story covered with dust and soil. And about the gourmands, those who live to eat, the wealth of flavors is going to rapture them and fill them with longing for a new revival of that magic.

Macedonia travel itinerary tip #1

Through the centuries, Macedonia was a crossroad of many civilizations, and each one of them left traces of their existence. With more than 4000 archaeological localities, Macedonia is the land of archaeologists. Many invaluable artifacts and ancient cites are found all over the country. Found artifacts and their stories can be seen in the museums throughout Macedonia. The central museum, where you can see most of the artifacts is the Archaeological museum, in the capital Skopje. Built in 2014, the Archaeological museum has more than 6000 exhibits on three flоors.

Macedonia travel itinerary tip #2

The main tourist attraction in Macedonia is the city of Ohrid and Ohrid Lake. Ohrid Lake is one of the oldest and one of the deepest lakes in Europe, it is more than 4 million years old and 286 m deep. Also, Ohrid Lake is one of the lakes which has one of the clearest waters in the world. In these millions of years, more than 200 endemic species have developed inside the lake. The city of Ohrid is situated on the shores of Lake Ohrid. It has a rich cultural and historical heritage and is known as the Jerusalem on the Balkans because it once had 365 churches and was for a long time the center of Ohrid archbishopric. Ohrid is the city which was the center of Slavic literacy as well. When visiting Ohrid, you will see monuments, early Christian basilicas, medieval churches, fortresses and antique theaters, and they all provide magnificent views of the Ohrid Lake. Because of these historical and natural values, Ohrid and Ohrid Lake are part of the UNESCO cultural heritage.

Macedonia travel itinerary tip #3

The Republic of Macedonia has a very rich wine tradition. Today,the Republic of Macedonia has 24.000 vineyards, all of which produce high-quality grapes. The Macedonian wine is of great quality and wine production is a large part of Macedonian export. Production of red wine dominates with around 80% of the total. Tourists can visit Macedonians wineries, where they may taste domestic wines and enjoy the beautiful landscapes. One of the biggest wineries are Tikvesh winery, Popovakula winery,Stobi winery, etc. The exclusive Macedonian wine contains a large number of ingredients that are found only in this country. The suitable climate of the country provides excellent growth conditions for a variety of vegetables, herbs and fruits. The most popular vegetables here are tomatoes and peppers, and the most famous delicacy in Macedonia is made from mixed peppers and is called “ajvar”. Macedonian cuisine is also known for the variety of dairy products and pork meat. If you visit Macedonia, you will no doubt enjoy its’ magnificent food and probably gain some weight!

Macedonia travel itinerary tip #4

Kokino observatory is one of the oldest and biggest observatories in the world. It is located in the Staro Nagorichane municipality, around 30km from the city of Kumanovo. Situated between 1010 m and 1030 m altitude above the sea level, it is a remarkable archaeological site dating from the early Bronze Age. Recently, in 2009, an Iron Age settlement was also found in the area, pointing to the site being frequented even further back in antiquity. The observatory and the sacred site were first discovered in 2001 and ranked as the world’s fourth most important ancient observatory by NASA, listed together with Stonehenge in England, Angkor Watt in Cambodia and Abu Simbel in Egypt.

Macedonia travel itinerary tip #5

Skopje is the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, and has a population of around one million. Before 2014, Skopje was not such an appealing tourist attraction. However, in 2014, with the implementation of the project “Skopje 2014”, the city got a completely new look; i.e. lots of monuments and baroque buildings were built at the time and now, Skopje is very attractive for tourists from around the world. Apart from these new buildings, you can visit the Old Turkish Bazaar in Skopje, one of the oldest and largest marketplaces in the Balkans built in the 12thcentury.

Skopje is also known as the birthplace of Mother Teresa. In the center of the city, you have the chance to visit the memorial house of Mother Teresa and learn more about her life.

Macedonia travel itinerary tip #6

Macedonia is a mountainous country, i.e. around 80% of its territory is covered with mountains with dense forests, high peaks and beautiful landscapes. It is a landlocked country, with 3 major natural lakes, plenty of rivers, canyons and caves. One of the most beautiful canyons in Europe – Canyon Matka, is located in Macedonia.

Macedonia travel itinerary tip #7

Macedonia has more than 1000 churches and monasteries, rich with remarkable fresco paintings, woodcarvings and architecture, where you can see the work of one of the most famous icon painters and wood carvers on the Balkans and the whole Byzantine Empire. In Macedonia, you can see plenty of early Christian basilicas, or the first churches were built in the 4th century when Christianity became the official religion in the Roman Empire. Inside those early Christian basilicas, you may admire the beautiful mosaics which are still well-preserved.

Macedonia travel itinerary tip #8

In Macedonian villages you can see the traditional lifestyle of the Macedonian peasant. Here, you can taste local Macedonian food and drink home-made wine and the traditional Macedonian drink – “rakija”. Moreover, villagers offer tourists different kinds of tours and activities such as donkey safari, where you can ride donkeys and explore the nature surrounding the villages. Some of the most famous Macedonian villages are: Vevchani,Galichnik,Trpejca and Elshani.

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Thank you, Experience Balkan for this Macedonia travel itinerary!Experience Balkan is an incoming tour operator for the Balkans and especially for the Republic of Macedonia. If you would like to visit Macedonia and you need arrangements, you may contact us at: contact@experiencebalkan.mkFor more information, you can visit our web-sites:

The Arusha National Park

The Arusha National Park in Tanzania is a small (137 sq km) but beautiful African park, is the closest Tanzanian National Wildlife Park to both the famous “safari town” of Arusha (29 km), as well as the Kilimanjaro International Airport, thus making it ideal for day safaris, even from Moshi (65 km). Not only is the wildlife in the Arusha National Park abundant, but it is also one of the most beautiful and topographically varied game reserves in Tanzania. The African Arusha National Park’s three most significant features include the rugged Mount. Meru (Tanzania’s second highest peak at 4566m), the notably different coloured Momela Lakes, and the 3km wide Ngurdoto Crater, which was formed about fifteen million years ago! The varied and beguiling animals and flora found in this game reserve are mainly determined by the different altitude and geography of these 3 “zones”.

Mount Meru

Mount Meru, the fifth highest African mountain forms part of the Arusha National Park, and is a recommended 4-day climb. One of Africa’s most rewarding climbs, offering spectacular scenery, and guaranteed wildlife animals encounters on its forested slopes. The summit cone features a stunning asymmetric caldera complete with an ash cone in the crater. The cone in itself makes a climb to the summit worthwhile. Climbs should be booked in advance, as an armed game reserve ranger of the Arusha National Park must accompany climbers. You are invited to contact us should you require more detailed information on climbing Mt. Meru.

Ngurdoto Crater

This crater, located inside the Arusha National Park and stretching 3 km’s across, is a steep-sided bowl, surrounded by riverine forest, while the crater floor is a lush swamp. The crater with its many visible animal trials provides a natural sanctuary to many African animals, including elephant, African buffalo, a variety of monkeys and baboons, as well as birds like hamerkop, spur-winged geese and herons. It is however unfortunately prohibited to descend down to the bottom of the crater. To the west of the crater lies Serengeti Ndogo or “Little Serengeti”, consisting of extensive grassland plain and it is one of the few places in the game reserve, where Zebra can be encountered.

Momela Lakes

The Momela lakes, also located inside the Arusha National Park, are shallow alkaline lakes and are made up of seven lakes, being big Momela, small Momela, El Kekhotoito, Kusare, Rishateni, Lekandiro and Tulusia. All seven lakes are mainly fed by separate underground water sources. Due to the varying mineral content of these underground sources, each lake supports a different type of algae growth, resulting in uniquely differently colored lakes. Because these lakes are alkaline, the water is not utilized by animals for drinking, but they do however attract a wide variety of African bird life, particularly flamingos.

Did You Know ???

The Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania is often referred to as the “Garden of Eden” and with good reason as the Ngorongoro has over 25 000 larger animals making it highest density of animals in one area in Africa.

How the Ngorongoro Crater formed? The Ngorongoro is an extinct volcano that collapsed in on itself approximately 25 million years ago forming a large superbowl. The Crater is the largest unbroken, unflooded volcanic Caldera in the world. The Ngorongoro Crater is 610 m deep and occupies an area of 260 sq km’s.

The view and game The views from the top of the crater wall are absolutely breathtaking. As one descends by 4×4 vehicle into the crater one passes through Fever Tree forests that shelter monkeys, bushbuck, waterbuck and a few black rhino. You then head onto the Ngorongoro plain with an abundance of animal life like you will never have seen before. Amongst the animals you will encounter are wildebeest, buffalo, gazelle, zebra, black-maned lion, leopard, hyena, hippo and elephant to name a few. In the Ngorongoro crater centre you will also come across a soda lake that has an abundance or bird life including flamingos. It is one of the top areas for predators to take down there pray. A trip to the Ngorongoro Crater is a sheer visual delight and a must for any Safari in Tanzania.

Lake Manyara National Park

Lake Manyara National Park is very easy to access: it’s about 180 minutes’ drive from Moshi, Kilimanjaro and barely an hour from the Ngorongoro Crater. Because of this, some of the northern sides of the park can get very busy, especially in the afternoon. To see the park at its best, we recommend that you either stay within the park or spend two nights somewhere close, entering the park early for a full-day safari.

Lake Manyara National Park is the smallest park in Tanzania extending over an area of 330sq km, located north of the Great Rift Valley western escarpment. The park is divided into three parts: the soda lake covering 220sq km, ground water forest and acacia woodland. Although small in size, the diverse habitats in the park provide the perfect environment for wildlife and birdlife, comprising up to 400 species. Famous for its “tree-climbing” lions which can sometimes be spotted in the boughs of acacia trees, it is also home to possibly the highest baboon density of any park in Africa.

Flora and Fauna of Lake Manyara cover about 330km², of which typically two-thirds is underwater, Lake Manyara National Park is a small park by African standards. However, it’s also very beautiful and contains tremendous diversity of habitats, animals and especially birds. You are likely to see buffalo feeding on sedge by the lakeshore, hippos in water pools in the northern fan delta, klipspringers on the escarpment wall, impala and plains game (zebra, giraffe, mongoose and warthog) scattered throughout. The Great Rift Valley escarpment looms on the horizon, forming an impressive backdrop to the lake. It is favoured by water birds, including storks, pelicans, herons, Egyptian geese and vast flocks of flamingos. The park is perfect for bird watchers and an ideal start to your safari.

Lake Manyara’s Fauna Lake Manyara’s game includes good numbers of elephant, buffalo and wildebeest along with plenty of giraffe. Also prolific in number are zebra, waterbuck, warthog and impala. You may need to search a little harder for the small and relatively shy Kirk’s dik-dik, and klipspringer on the slopes of the escarpment. The broken forests and escarpment make it good country for leopard, whilst Manyara’s healthy lion population are famous for their tree-climbing antics. (Whilst unusual, this isn’t as unique to the park as is often claimed.) Immediately obvious to most visitors are the huge troops of baboons which often number several hundred and are widely regarded as Africa’s largest.

Birds As with the habitats, the birdlife here is exceptionally varied. In the middle of the lake you’ll often see flocks of pelicans and the pink-shading of distant flamingos, whilst the margins and floodplains feed innumerable herons, egrets, stilts, stalks, spoonbills and other waders. With so much water around, the woodlands are equally productive, but it’s the evergreen forests where you’ll spot some more entertaining species such as the noisy silvery-cheeked hornbills, crowned eagles and crested guinea fowl.

Vegetation Set beneath the spectacular backdrop of the Great Rift Valley’s steep western escarpment, this long, narrow park protects an area between the escarpment and Lake Manyara. The parks namesake is a shallow, alkaline lake which expands and contracts with the seasons within a long, silvery bowl of salt deposits. Adjacent to it are wide, grassy floodplains and, further away, bands of mixed acacia woodlands. Further still, next to the escarpment, are patches of enchanting evergreen forests, which are sustained by perennial groundwater springs issuing from the base of the escarpment.

Serengeti National Park

The Endless plains….. the Vastness…. the scent and the wild voices of nature whispering at you. It’s traveling back in time…Serengeti National Park probably the most famous wildlife refuge in the world. Its eco-system is one of the oldest on earth. The essential features of climate, vegetation and fauna have barely changed in the past million years. Early man himself made an appearance in Olduvai Gorge about two million years ago. Some patterns of life, death, adaptation and migration are as old as the hills themselves. The eco-system extends over a much larger area and includes the Maasai Mara in Kenya and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, linking over 25,000 km2 of land in which animals can move freely. Much of this is nutritious grassland which acts as a magnet for wildebeest, zebra, impala and Thomson’s gazelle.

Serengeti is the oldest and most popular national park, also a world heritage site and recently proclaimed a 7th worldwide wonder, the Serengeti is famed for its annual migration, when some six million hooves pound the open plains, as more than 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelle join the wildebeest’s trek for fresh grazing. Yet even when the migration is quiet, the Serengeti offers arguably the most scintillating game-viewing in Africa: great herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and giraffe, and thousands upon thousands of eland, topi, kongoni, impala and Grant’s gazelle. The Serengeti National Park has four separate sections, each with its own unique features and landscapes: the Southern Plains, Seronera (Central), Western Corridor, and Northern Serengeti.

The Southern Plains might be described as the “classic Serengeti” with its flat, open expanses of short grass plains. Just north of the short grass plains lies Seronera, or Central Serengeti, famous for its open plains, kopjes, and resident game, including large numbers of lions, cheetahs, and leopards. Stretching west to Lake Victoria is the Western Corridor, home to the Grumeti and Mbalageti Rivers, which support evergreen riparian forest and dense vegetation. From the Seronera area all the way to Kenya is the Northern Serengeti, an area of gently rolling country dotted with occasional hills and kopjes, broken by small rivers. This is where visitors might be at the right place at the right time to view the migration river crossings of the Mara River, made famous by National Geographic documentaries.

Where is Serengeti and how big is it?

Size: 14,763 sq km (5,700 sq miles). 14% of the country’s land area (size of Northern Ireland) Location: 335km (208 miles) from Arusha, stretching north to Kenya and bordering Lake Victoria to the west.

All year round but if your interest is to follow the wildebeest migration then the best time for this is December-July. And to see predators, June-October.

What game will you see in Serengeti?

There are so many different species in the Serengeti that this list could go on forever. The Serengeti’s main attraction is the Great Migration, consisting of up to 2 million wildebeest, 200,000 zebras and 350,000 Thompson, impala and grant’s gazelles. The predator viewing here is exceptional with approximately 3-4,000 lion and huge numbers of cheetah, leopard and hyena. Other game found in the park include Topi, Eland, Hartebeest, Buffalo, Elephant, Caracal, Serval, Bat-eared fox, Hyrax, Genet, Hares, Porcupine, Aardvark, Giraffe, Jackal, Mongoose, Crocodile, Monitor Lizard, Aardwolf, many kinds of primates including baboons, velvet and Colobus monkeys, and over more than 500 species of birds.

Mountain Kilimanjaro Information

Trekking Conditions . All 6 Routes to the Roof of Africa

There are six established routes to climb Mount Kilimanjaro – Marangu, Machame, Lemosho, Shira, Rongai and Umbwe. The Marangu, Machame, and Umbwe routes all approach from the south of the mountain (Mweka is used only for descent). The Lemosho and Shira routes approach from the west. The Rongai route approaches from the north.

When to climb Kilimanjaro

Weather conditions and temperature on Kilimanjaro varies depending on season and altitude, cold temperatures and precipitation are the main weather concerns while climbing the mountain. The warmer, drier months are the best times to climb Kilimanjaro, climbs during January, February and September are all very good, while climbs in June, July and August are equally as good because it is possible the temperature will be a little cooler. Months to try and avoid climbing the mountain are during the rainy season which fall in the months of March, April, May and November although climbers can still experience rain during the dry season, the weather on the mountain is unpredictable.

Please note that this is a challenging and tough trek, which reaches an altitude of 5895m. It is possible to find this climb very difficult even if you consider yourself to be relatively fit, it mostly depends on how well your body acclimatizes to high altitude.

Ecological Zones of Kilimanjaro

It all begins at the base of the mountain as we embark on our climb, allowing us to pass through lush rain-forests, proceeding through heath, moorland, alpine desert and finally entering the arctic zone. Climbers need to be prepared for the wide range of temperatures has we pass through all the different zones, especially the extreme cold on entering the arctic zone. Climbers also need to be aware that the forest sections can often be quite slippery, moorland paths can at times be very wet due to poor weather conditions and the final ascent through the arctic zone is almost entirely of scree and loose rock, although it can be tricky there is no technical climbing skills needed.

You’re in good hands! Once were on the mountain all you need to worry about is enjoying your experience and ascending to the roof of Africa, everything else is taken care of by the experienced staff. You will have a fully licensed head guide, fully licensed assistant guides, experienced cook and hardworking porters. Food will be fresh, healthy and in abundance making sure that you are getting the right nutrition and energy for your ascent of the mountain. All your needs will be catered for. Emanuel and Edwin wish to give you the best experience upon the mountain and memories you will never forget. This is accomplished by no corners being cut and with our guaranteed quality of service.

Climb Preparation

Climbing Kilimanjaro doesn’t need any technical mountaineering skills, although a reasonable degree of fitness would increase your odds of a successful summit, safe climb and most of all an enjoyable experience. Please note that being physically fit doesn’t guarantee anyone to overcome problems with altitude although it can reduce the impact of your climb on the body. If anyone wishes to train for their climb we recommend that you take part in daily walks that should include uphill and downhill sections, it is also necessary to increase your endurance and confidence levels all of which will play a part in your success.

Traveling to Tanzania. Visa and Vaccination

When traveling to Tanzania most nationalities require a visa, this includes British, most EU, Americans, Canadians and Australians etc. All visas are available at the border, British and most EU are at a cost of €40 cash, whilst for US nationals it will be €81 cash.

Please note that airports and other points of entry to Tanzania may require you to show a certificate of vaccination for Yellow Fever. We recommend you seek medical advice regarding other vaccinations such as Polio, Typhoid, Hepatitis A and Tetanus. Malaria precaution is essential, we suggest you consult your GP on which Malaria tablets to take. It is the responsibility of all travelers to make sure they have passport, visa, vaccinations and suitable insurance in place for this journey.

Safety and Rescue

In our experience there are three primary steps to accomplishing successful acclimatization. Firstly, drink lots of water, we recommend a daily intake of 4-5 liters. Secondly it is sensible to walk slowly, the body needs as little strain as possible whilst adapting to the reduction in oxygen, it is not a race. Thirdly it is within our experience to know that climbing high during the day and sleeping low during the night can achieve greater success of acclimatization.

Our knowledge, training, equipment and personal attention are all designed with your safety in mind. It is probable that most climbers will experience mild altitude sickness despite adequate hydration and a slow ascent, most climbers will recover, for those who experience serious altitude sickness they will be required to descend to a lower altitude with a member of staff in the interest of safety. Please note all symptoms should be reported immediately to our guides, the senior guide will have the final decision on all matters of safety regarding serious altitude sickness.

Thousands of people attempt the summit of the majestic Kilimanjaro every year, on average two or three fatalities occur from acute mountain sickness, this is a result of not undertaking a rapid descent quickly enough. Although all our guides are fully trained in recognizing and dealing with acute altitude sickness there is no guarantees on the mountain with its unpredictable conditions and remoteness.

All head guides are equipped with oxygen and a complete medical kit. Anyone needing to be evacuated will be taken down by stretcher has quickly as possible to the nearest point that the rescue vehicle can access to remove you from the mountain for medical assistance. Your safety is paramount to us, therefore it is imperative that you advise us at the time of your booking of any conditions medical or otherwise that may affect you or others on the trip.

Lake Natron & Ol Doinyo Lengai Volcano

Lake Natron is a soda lake with a large resident population of flamingos. Being on the border of Kenya, just north of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Lake Natron and the active volcano Ol Doinyo L’Engai occupy a surreal landscape, overshadowed by the Rift Valley Escarpment. Lake Natron is a good area to visit authentic Maasai communities, experiencing first-hand the Masai culture. Foot safaris along natural river gorges are another possibility, as there are waterfalls, plunge pools and a natural jacuzzi fed by water coming from the Ngorongoro conservation area.

At the head of the valley lies the active volcano Oldoinyo Lengai, Tanzania’s only active volcano and the world’s only natrocarbonatite volcano. This unique and amazing geological feature is the most remarkable geological sight Tanzania has to offer, towering over the desolate landscape produced by the ash falling from its constant eruptions; Lengai created – and still creates – the Serengeti Plains, and is the cause of the archaeological fossil layers of Olduvai Gorge!

Oldoinyo Lengai means “mountain of God” in KiMaasai (the language of the Masai tribe), and when you see an eruption under-way (last eruption in 2008/9) you can understand how Oldoinyo Lengai got its name. It is usually possible to climb Oldoinyo Lengai, if the volcano is not erupting too savagely, and although the climb is hard (some might say savage) the views from the top are truly breath-taking.

If you are interested in visiting Lake Natron or Oldoinyo Lengai book your own personal Tanzania safari itinerary with a 5% discount through our Customised tours page.

Lake Natron

Lying on the border of Kenya, Lake Natron is the only known breeding ground for East Africa’s millions of lesser flamingos. The best time to see the flamingos is during the breeding months from August to October. The surreal scenery of Lake Natron is great for landscape photography. The lake is not inside any national park, which means that as a visitor it is possible to go on a foot safari with your local guide.

You can take a short hike along a gorge in the rift escarpment to Engaresero Water Falls. There is a natural jacuzzi at the base of the falls where you can bathe, overshadowed by the rocks and epiphytes hanging above. It is also possible to take a dawn stroll out to the edge of Lake Natron and watch the sun come up over the immense landscape.

Ol Doinyo Lengai

The base of Ol Doinyo L’Engai, on the Engaruka Plains, lies at about 800m. The Masai’s ‘Mountain of the Gods’ is the only active carbonate volcano in the world. The steep ascent to the top (currently just under 3000m) requires determination and good fitness levels, but the views alone are more than worth the effort. It is usually possible to stroll over solidified lava flows, and walk among the lava cones belching out sulphuric gases. Ideally the hike begins at 1-3am, and the summit reached as the sun rises – you cannot have too much film for your camera!

The true bushmen of Tanzania

A morning hunt with the Hadzabe Bushmen of Tanzania Most of baobab trees at Lake Eyasi have big holes inside them that the Hadza use to hide their children during the heavy rains. They are also used for keeping water when rain starts Staying with the Hadza (the true Bushmen of Africa) is an experience of a lifetime. Just spend few days with them and learn about their way of life.

Lake Eyasi is a soda lake between Serengeti and Tarangire National Parks. It is a superb location for those interested in visiting the Hadzabe and seeing the traditional life of the ‘bushmen’. Their hunter-gathering lifestyle has not changed for 1000 years.

Culture: ExcellentBirding: ExcellentBest time to visit Lake Eyasi: All year except April and May.How to get to Eyasi: you have to drive.Safari types available: Walking safaris, food gathering with the local women, hunting with bushmen and traditional weapons

Fit travellers can join the Hadzabe in their traditional hunting with bows and an arrows. Water is carried in Ostrich eggs. For the less athletic you can join the women gathering tubers and seeds. You can camp at Lake Eyasi or stay in either of 2 Tented camps in the area: KasimaNgeda and Tindiga.

At Lake Eyasi

Lake Eyasi is just over an hour drive south-west of Karatu and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Lake Eyasi is a mildly alkaline lake about 50km long. To the north-east you can see the Crater Highlands and to the north are the plains of the Serengeti. Around 100 years ago when the warlike Masai tribes invaded Ngorongoro and Serengeti, the Datoga and other indigenous bushmen living there were pushed south. Many of these groups made the Lake Eyasi area their home.

Along the shores of the lake are Acacia forests which are home to a high diversity of wildlife including leopard and lion. There are several good quality private campsites which are located in the forest clearings by the lake. Each provides a grassy pitch, shower and toilet facilities constructed mainly from local materials.

Lake Eyasi is a superb place for bird-watchers. Lake Eyasi is well known for the Hadzabe bushmen and you can accompany them on a traditional hunt. The Hadzabe are the last of the true hunter-gatherers. They use an ancient ‘click’ tongue language and live by collecting berries and roots and hunting the small game that is still present in the area. Accompanying a hunt is an exhilarating insight into our ancient ancestors struggle for survival. Lake Eyasi’s principal source of water is the Sibiti River, which enters the southwestern end. The river may continue to flow all year round in wetter years and all the other inflows disappear in the dry season. Seasonal variations in the lake are large even though the northwestern shore is constrained by the Serengeti Plateau. During the dry season the lake can almost entirely disappear. The lake is also a seasonal stop for migrating flamingos.

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The article is kindly provided by Armenia Discovery – our partner for vacations in Armenia 🙂

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Like all foreign countries, Armenia has some unique quirks that visitors can have fun experiencing, there are definitely some odd occurrences one will be sure to write home about!

Public Transportation

First of all, minus the nicely laid out, single line metro in Yerevan, there is no map or time schedule of Armenia’s public transportation. With over 100 marshrutkas (Soviet-style minibuses) and buses, this can be a bit overwhelming, but it is easy to make friends with people waiting at the numerous bus stops around the city who will be happy to help you determine which bus will take you where you need to go.

After boarding the bus, be prepared to be jammed into the tiniest standing space available as there are no capacity limits for the number of people that can board a bus. The standard rule is, if you can fit, you can ride! When it comes to payment, bus rides are 100 AMD = 0.20 € and the strangest thing about the whole public transit situation is customers pay when getting off the bus instead of getting on! Of course, we also have new modern buses with wifi but they don’t astonish seeing that than seeing minibuses or marshrutkas.

Food and Drink

Scattered generously around cities throughout Armenia are major sources of drink: drinking fountains․ These drinking fountains, called pulpulaks, provide a constant stream of fresh, cold, drinking water to passersby and the occasional dog.

The water in Armenia is something of a miracle and is rumored to be the tastiest, sweetest drinking water in the world. Perhaps the best place to start your Armenian water tasting tour is in the capital city, Yerevan. On the anniversary of Yerevan’s 2750th birthday, the city was gifted 2750 drinking fountains which provide endless streams of cold, fresh, delicious water for free to all who pass by. How the city survived its hot, dry summers for 2,750 years without these fountains is impossible to imagine.

Unfortunately, there are no such food dispensers aside from the standard vending machine, but the “tonir” is a famous Armenian oven that cannot be overlooked. The traditional tonir is a cylindrical oven dug into the ground, where the opening of the oven is in line with the ground level.

There is a second, above ground version, of this oven which looks like a mound of bricks with a circular opening at the top. These ovens are primarily used for baking bread and the raw dough is slapped onto the sides of the oven to be scooped out via a metal hook once baked. To get the dough into the oven, the baker must reach deep into the oven opening. What looks like a precarious dive into the tonir, unlikely for a hope of returning without major burns, is actually an age-old technique that has been passed down from generation to generation!

Driving

If the public transportation situation seems a bit overwhelming, taxis are an excellent choice for traveling around Armenia (rates at about 100 AMD = 0.20 € per kilometer), but even taxis are not exempt from oddities!

Cars drive on the right side of the road in Armenia, but steering wheels can be found on the right or left side of cars, so check twice before you pop into the passenger’s seat, you might just find yourself opening the driver’s door!

Generally, Armenia is known for its wide open roads, with no traffic jams, but there is one sort of roadblock that is quite common: sheep or cows!

Many roads pass through pastures and farms, so cows and sheep often find themselves hanging out in the middle of the road. Not to worry, though, honking a few times is certain to have them moving on their way. Last, but not least, bright red Coca-Cola tents at every gas station. Gas stations often are equipped with two things: the above-mentioned coffee machines and Coca-Cola tents filled with plastic furniture, available for travelers to rest in while their cars are being filled with gas!

Cleanliness

In many cities in Armenia, especially Yerevan, visitors are taken aback by the extreme cleanliness. In the early morning and late evening, it is common to come across ladies with brooms sweeping dust and leaves from sidewalks and park paths. In the Yerevan metro, one will find not even a single scrap of trash and the escalators leading from the street to the metro tracks are constantly polished and clean. Especially in the summers, to follow up with the work of the sweeping ladies, shop and restaurant owners “wash” the sidewalks in front of their stores. Either with hoses or buckets, the sidewalk is sprayed clean of any remaining particles.

Lexicon

Do you know which word Armenians like to use most?

The answer to this question is clear. “Djan”. A word that has no translation in any language.

We use that word after calling someone’s name showing our warm gratitude towards that person, even if we speak with a stranger. Thus if you are Michael and here Armenians will call you Michael Jan, don’t be surprised. Just enjoy, because they welcome you warmly.

Hospitality

The first rule, Don’t be surprised if your new stranger friend invites you his house either for having dinner or drinking black coffee. No other purpose, or something bad in that invitation.

Just Armenians are very hospitable and it is not a secret for the world. We love to treat our national foods to others. You will make sure in that when you would be out of the capital. In every village you will find guest houses, where you will be accepted as a member of a family, they will offer you a tasty dinner with an overnight stay.

We don’t smile to everyone

In a lot of European countries, you will meet strangers who will smile you while passing. Remember you will not see it in Armenia. Maybe, many of you will be astonished by that fact, but it is a normal phenomenon for us.

Not smiling to the strangers doesn’t mean that we don’t like them or accept you. But be sure if you approach someone and ask something, that, not smiling Armenian, will do his best to help you, even not knowing the language.

Maybe this is enough. Have you ever been in Armenia? If yes, tell us what kind of weird things you noticed here.

Now, all that is left is to come to Armenia and see these odd phenomenon first hand and discover even more curious spectacles!

The article is kindly provided by Armenia Discovery – our partner for vacations in Armenia 🙂

You can book any of their holiday packages via our Customised Tours page and get a 5% Haveneverbeenthere fan discount from us!

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Everest Base Camp Trekking is one of the most popular trekking destinations among the trekkers who would opt for an incredible trekking experience while enjoying its natural splendor. Trek to Everest Base Camp is one the most renowned trekking trail in the world. Four of the world’s six tallest peaks namely Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse, Mt. Makalu and Mt. Cho Oyu are situated in this beautiful region. Everest Base Camp Trek is popular amongst the trekkers since the first trekking endeavor in the year 1953, that was when Sir. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa first triumphed over the highest peak of Mount Everest. The Everest Base Camp Trekking trail is luring the increasing number of expeditors who are seeking to enjoy the unique blend of both adventure and cultural / natural sightseeing.

The trail also encounters you with courageous and hospitable locals. The amiable traditions and unique cultures of Sherpa people who are always eager to welcome you with their arms wide open. Sherpa’s are yet another interesting part of the Everest Base Camp Trek. Trekking through the Everest region takes you to the world of Himalayan beauty where you get to witness the beautiful Himalayas, wonderful Sherpa culture and exquisite traditions of the people living in the Himalayas. The trek further enhances your adventure while sightseeing in Sagarmatha National Park which is a habitat for different varieties of floras and faunas. The region is also embellished with ancient Buddhist monasteries, beautiful glaciers, rivers and most of all the breathtaking beauty of the Himalayan range.

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You can book any of their holiday packages via our Customised Tours page with our 5% partner discount!

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Nepal is a paradise for adventure lovers. Nepal Adventure Tour Package offers a wide range of extreme activities for those who take their life as a challenge. The varied landscape has some of the best sites for it, raging rivers to run, mountains to scale, clear blue skies, challenging treks, fine lakes and rivers to boat, fish and raft down, and a wild terrain to ride.

Nepal, one of the smallest countries of world is the Green heaven of this planet you must visit at least once in your life time. Lying between the two biggest democratic and communist countries of the world: India and China, the nation is in the mission of being established as a Federal Republic Country. You cannot find any nation other than Nepal that has the largest variation in almost anything of world: natural beauty, geography, culture, religion, casts and climate.

Nepal Adventure Tour Package Highlights

Included most popular adventure activities in Nepal

Opportunity to visit Kathmandu and Pokhara City

Included hiking and sunrise views from Pokhara

Maximum flexibility in itinerary, with personalized service

Required minimum 2 persons

List of adventure activities you can do in Nepal

Mountain flight

Paragliding

Rafting

Bungy Jump

Zip-Flyer

Mountain Biking

Day Hiking

Ultralight Flight

Canoeing

Jungle Safari

Day 1: Kathmandu Arrival and Transfer to Hotel

Your Arrival Time – Airport pickup and transfer to your Hotel.

6:00PM – Short briefing about your tour program. If you are arriving late (after 4PM) then we will have briefing next morning at 9:00AM. If any payment is due, then it will be collected during briefing time.

Day 2: Bungee Jumping Trip – Bhotekoshi Valley

6.00 AM – Morning after breakfast drive to The Last Resort for Bungee Jumping by shared vehicle / Full day Bungee Jumping. Lunch included

3.00 PM– Late Afternoon Drive back to Kathmandu. Overnight Stay at Kathmandu.

Day 3: Day Rafting on Trishuli River and drive to Pokhara.

8.00 AM- After breakfast drive to Trishuli River (put in point) / Rafting (4 Hours) and drive to Pokhara. Overnight Stay at Pokhara.

Day 4: Paragliding and Day Hiking to Peace Stupa

09.30 AM- Paragliding (30 Minutes)

1.00 PM– Guided Hiking to Peace Stupa (Approx. 4 hours)

5.00 PM- Boating at Fewa Lake. Overnight Stay at Pokhara.

Day 5: Activities and Drive to Kathmandu

5.00 AM – Drive to Sarangkot for Sunrise and Mountain Views

8.00 AM- Zip flyer (optional)

12.00 PM- Drive back to Kathmandu

Day: 6 Departures

6.00 AM- Optional Everest Mountain Flight

Free till flight check in time. Finally transfer to the airport for the onward journey.

FAQ

How do I get visa to Nepal?

All foreign nationals, except Indians, need visas to enter Nepal. Multiple entry visas for 15 days (US€20 or equivalent convertible currency), 30 days (US€33) or 90 days (US€81) can be obtained from any Nepalese embassy or consulate. You can also get a visa on arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu or at the Immigration Office at the entry points of Nepal.

Tourist visas can be extended for a period of 120 days at the Immigration Department in Kathmandu. However, nationals of the following countries will not get a visa on arrival at the immigration entry points of Nepal: Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iraq, Liberia, Nigeria, Palestine, Somalia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. They need to obtain visas from Nepalese embassies or diplomatic missions in their respective countries prior to their arrival in Nepal.

Gratis (Free) Visa for 30 days is available only for nationals of South Asian countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for the first visit in one visa year (January to December). However, a visa fee is required for its extension beyond the 30 days.

Indian nationals do not require a visa to enter Nepal. For more information please visit to Nepal government official website here.

For online visa application click here. You will find information to get the Nepal visa online.

When is the best time to visit Nepal?

Generally, Nepal is for all seasons, however, if you are going to the high Himalayas for trekking, the best months are between September to November and February to May, when the weather is pleasant during the day and the temperatures do not drop rapidly during the night. You can still visit the mid-hills, including Kathmandu, Pokhara, Poon hill and flat area Lumbini and Chitwan during the winter months (January and February). June to August is rainy season in Nepal. The rain is expected every day. It brings landslides and clouds often cover the mountain views.

Accommodation in Nepal

City

Standard Hotel (2 Star)

Deluxe Hotel (3 Star)

Luxury Hotel (5 Star)

Kathmandu

Hotel Thamel or similar

Kathmandu Arts or similar

Yak & Yeti or similar

Pokhara

Hotel Tulsi or similar

Mount View or similar

Pokhara Grande or similar

Bhotekoshi

The Last Resort

The Last Resort

The Last Resort

Transportantion

NO OF PASSENGERS

VEHICLE TYPE(A/C)

MODEL

2-3 Persons

Car

Skoda, Toyota, Tata Manza

4-6 Persons

Van / Jeep

Toyota Van, Scorpio Jeep

7-12 Persons

Hi-Ace Van

Toyota Hi-Ace Van

12-20 Persons

Coaster / Mini Bus

–

20-35 Persons

Coach

–

Cost calculator

As a Haveneverbeenthere fan you can benefit from a 5% discount on all prices below, as well as the other tour packages from Holidays to Nepal

You can book any of their holiday packages via our Customised Tours page with our 5% partner discount!

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is almost a virgin country mesmerizing with full of pleasures, ethnic cultures, glided pagodas, adventures and natural resources. Myanmar is truly the one and the only country left in South-east Asia to explore. You will find a charming country of wonderful scenery and incredible local people in Myanmar (Burma). Want to get feelings like a time traveler? Yes, visit to Myanmar. It is a new world and a new light.

We suggest to pick up some famous destinations in Myanmar such as Yangon, Bagan, Inle Lake with 5 days/ 4 Nights tour program with 4 stars hotels for each destination. Most of the travelers visit the country between October and April (high season). But you may visit between May and September (low season) because the rates are low and you can see still see the beautiful nature of Myanmar.

Tour Highlights in Myanmar

The world largest Man-Made attraction, The Amazing Shwedagon Pagoda and Yangon Highlights.

The fantastic experience of enjoying Sunset in Bagan from antique temples and pagodas and River Irrawaddy.

Regardless of who you are or where you are from, Bagan will welcome you warmly with his aesthetics culture.

Lifestyles of Bagan people.

Feel the cultures of Myanmar people in Old Cities and absorb fantastic experiences.

Observe the wonderful scenes in Inle Lake.

Learn the nature of Inntha’s village on water and observe their methods of fishing and planting.

Yangon – Bagan – Inle Lake – Yangon (5 Days/4 Nights)

Day 1Yangon Excursion

Shwedagon Pagoda. Kaba Aye Pagoda. Sule Pagoda

Your trip will start at Yangon International Airport, where the private transfer is already waiting for you to take you to the hotel, however before that, on the way to the hotel, we visit Kaba-Aye (World Peace) Pagoda that is referred to the peace of the world, Maha Pasana Guha Cave that is a place of sixth Buddhist council was detained. During the day we also visit Buddhist Art Museum which are in same compound. We visit Gem Mart that is located within in Gem Museum where gem-sets of valuable stones can be watched.

After having our lunch, we continue to National Museum that keeps Myanmar’s art, history and culture. We set out to Sule Pagoda that is located at the center of downtown in Yangon and Mahabandoola Park near Sule Pagoda. Then, we visit The Amazing Shwedagon Pagoda that is enshrined by the four relics of four Buddhas at nightfall

Day 2Yangon to Bagan , Bagan Exploration

The Ancient Bagan Historic Shwezigon Pagoda Fine Stucco Carvings

After having breakfast at hotel, you fly to Bagan by domestic flight (K7-262) in the morning. It takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes to Bagan. Here you will visit some famous places such as Nyaung-Oo Market that is a buzzling marketplace. The most outstanding sights of the day will be: Shwe-zi-gon Pagoda that is an attractive feature of Myanmar stupa built on stonework, Kyan-Sit-thar U-min that is a tunnel with well complicated paintings and Wet-kyi-in Gu-byuk-kyi Temple with antique wall painting of Jartaka scenes. After these exceptional visits, you have some time to rest in the hotel and continue later with experiences in Bagan!

Mesmerizing Bagan

The Archeological Museum comes next, and that is a perfect place to explore history and culture of ancient Bagan city, Ananda Temple that is a temple of enormous and best brick works, That-byin-nyu Temple that is rising to a height of 201 feet above the ground overseeing other memorials around, Bu-pa-ya that is near to Irrawaddy river and a good place to watch sunset.

Day 3Bagan to Inle Lake, Inle Lake Exploration

Inntha’s Lifestyle Nga Phe Chaung Monastery Floating Villages

On the 3rd day you fly from Bagan to Heho Airport by morning flight (K7-224). A private transfer will take you to the Inle Lake, where you continue the natural discovery by a motor boat. Some of the activities you can experience here are the traditional methods of fishing of Intha locals, gold and silversmith workshops at Ywama Village and Cheroot-making workshop in Nam Pan village.

After the workshops you are going to visit Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda that is one of the most famous pagodas in Myanmar. This pagoda has 5 gilded Ancient Buddha images and it is a major attraction in Inle Lake. But the most exciting part comes after the lunch – Shan Shoulder Bag Weaving Center, Floating Garden and Nga Phe Chaung Monastery a very noticeable construction made of wood at the end of the 1850 called as “Jumping Cat Monastery”.

Day 4Indein Excursion

The Ancient Pagodas. Floating Garden. The Old Monastery

After having breakfast at the hotel, you continue to visit Indein with several antique pagod complexes. While sigthseeing here you can observe the natural scenic beauty of floating villages.

Day 5Yangon Excursion, Departure Yangon, See you again

The Reclining Buddha Image Scott Market

Today is the last day of your stay in Myanmar. We fly from Heho to Yangon by morning flight (K7-249). After refreshments, you visit the Chauk Htat Kyi Pagoda Temple (Reclining Buddha Image) that is one of the largest and most graceful Reclining Buddha Images in South East Asia. Chauk Htet Gyi Pagoda is a six storey-high Buddha image. Then you may go to Scott Market for shopping, because it’s time to say good bye and, hopefully, see you soon, in Myanmar!

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This wasn’t the most active trip of mine … But it was the longest one I had lately! 7 days in Athens Greece – perhaps, having this much of time available, it’s okay to afford some laziness in between. Therefore, I invite you to review my life in Athens – all the things to do, all the places to go (or to avoid), and definitely all the restaurants to dine in 😀

The route from the airport was unbelievably green. We took the fastest route through the highway, but it also happened to be the most picturesque. As usually, using uberfor getting to the city.

You can check here the detailed instructions on how to get from Athens Airport to the city.

During this vacation in Athens I switched 3 hotels 🙂 Not because they were that bad, but it was the original plan – to try out and review as much as possible hotels, but without a hassle of relocating every day. All hotels are part of SPG network, so we had some enhanced conditions while booking.

Day #1 Must see in Athens, Greece. Or a light sightseeing which ended up in a tavern

After all the commuting and checking in hassle, which was actually quite hassle free 🙂 it was the right time to turn on activity mode.

Well, what can you do after checking in at 3 pm? A light sightseeing, with a nice dinner afterwards – that’s an active enough plan after all the passed kilometers behind.

As sightseeing route I would recommend to rely on your feet in the beginning, especially if you stay between Acropolis – Plaka.

We went towards Acropolis and had an obstacle on our way – a street artist making caricature paintings of you. I was in that holiday start mood when I couldn’t ignore such an obstacle.

So 5 min – and the best souvenir from Athens is ready. The cost is 15 EUR/person.

We walked along Dionysiou Areopagitou street, where we met our artist, bought some caramelized almond and took the stairs on the right to the Acropolis – it was of course closed, 25th of December 🙂 But anyways we had no huge desire to enter any museums that day.

Just to confirm: if we take AthensWas for a starting point, by walking straight along the street, the subway station Acropolis will be on the left, as well as the New Acropolis Museum, whilst the Acropolis itself – with all the ancient sites, will be on the right. If you turn right a bit earlier from the Dionysiou Areopagitou street, you’ll end up in Plaka – the most touristic part of the city, but also quite a photogenic one. The majority of tavernas with live music are situated there. But we’ll talk about it later 🙂

In case you chose to take our route, you’ll notice a hill (not too high one) – it’s the Areopagus (Mars) Hill. Always crowded, people are literally standing on each other’s feet for taking photos of Acropolis… Don’t climb up there, isn’t it a shame capturing these beautiful monuments in a complete chaos. There is a better place for that.

And it’s called The Filopappou Hill or the Hill of Muses – my very much loved piece of Athens :>

The Filopappou Hill or the Hill of Muses is just nearby – deep green & rocky, definitely my favourite place in Athens. It’s a nice itinerary for a walk (there are several caves, one of them is known as ‘Sokrates Prison’), birds, olive trees, and great photo spots! So just take the time to walk around and after the ‘Sokrates Prison’, on the right side you’ll see a path leading up. Take it and go until the very top, just until there is nothing else to climb up. You’ll find a perfect Acropolis & selfie spot, as well as a view of the seaside nearby.

Going back downstairs, and leaving the Hill of Muses, you’ll spot a traditional Greek Dances Theatre ‘Dora Stratou’. That’s actually a place where you could join a sirtaki dance workshop 🙂 We couldn’t (festive days…), but in case you’ll do, don’t forget to share your experience in a comment or even a short article maybe!

In the meantime while walking I made a reservation for a Greek tavern. Why not starting the trip with one of the most characteristic things you can spot in Greece! But before commencing with the dinner (starts at 9 pm), we decided to hang out a bit with locals, with a view.

Bar 360° – is a bit too fancy (or pricey) but a worth going place to celebrate the arrival to Athens. The bar occupies the top three floors of a large building on Monastiraki square. A glass of white wine sangria is 7,5 EUR, but you’ll get the Acropolis view and the vibrating ambience of a ‘locals go’ place. Tip: the elevator will take you to the 2nd or 3rd floor – which is marked as 360°, but don’t stop there, go one floor further – that’s Bacardi bar, and one more floor by stairs – and voila, you are in the maybe most beautiful and active rooftop bar in Athens.

Though later on I understood that it’s not a big deal getting the view of Acropolis in Athens – you can see it from almost from everywhere 🙂

Time for dinner – we headed towards Oinopoleion taverna (use their website to read the story and the menu, and their facebook for updates on events). We had a very Greek dinner with many different appetizers; amongst all of them above all I loved the zucchini balls and kept ordering them everywhere. And also a very Greek night with a band singing and playing local notes.

Surprisingly all the clients were Greek (well, it’s not a touristy place, their facebook page is in Greek only, and I just understood by the photo attached to the event, that there will be music & wine), and even more surprisingly, they didn’t react too much on the music. Almost no one was clapping, or singing, not even talking about standing up and spinning around in a dance. Actually I was the only one who clapped the rhythm until my palms started to burn (but they did already at ‘home’, at night).

Day #2. Trip to Sounio and the Poseidon’s Temple, followed by our active nightlife in Athens

Being extremely active after waking up, around noon, I decided that it’s time for a road trip, since there are some many beautiful sites around Athens. Indeed there are, but in case you didn’t rent a car, and rely on speed of buses, or other public transport means, you either wake up early at sunrise to afford some hours for commuting, or spend the largest part of the light day watching the views through the window.

And of course my ‘behind the window’ scenery below 🙂

Our destination was the Poseidon Temple in Kato Sounio. A place which I’ll always remember for heartbreaking sunsets : >

To reach Sounio you’ll have to take a bus from the Terminal and here is the timetable

The bus terminal of Athens is located at Kotsika 2 – near Omonia and Victoria metro stations. It’s not easy with google maps in Greece – the street names are inserted in Greek in many cases, which makes it impossible for you to type in and find.

Here is the link to the correct bus station, and just in case, the name which is searchable in maps – K.T.E.L. Nomou Attikis S.A

The one way ticket is 6,9 EUR/p

The route is beautiful, but a bit too long – in fact, it takes 2 hours, when it’s just 70 km!

Generally, you can enter the Temple – working hours from 9 AM to 8 PM, but we couldn’t… Probably because of the public holidays, on the other hand, I completely forgot that an open air temple might have any working hours… So we took photos from distance 🙂

And since we arrived at 3 pm, and didn’t have any breakfast before, it was quite a good time for the first meal of the day.

I found some restaurants during our long way there, and chosen Taverna Ilias which, surprisingly, was also closed, but, luckily, it’s smaller neighbor – Acrogiali – was fully functioning (and by fully, I mean that almost all the tables were occupied).

The food was great! I loved the shrimp saganaki, the fresh fried octopus, and especially the fried cheese. Talking about local attractions – the terrace is full of cats, huge, strong, ‘mafia’ cats. They have their own hierarchy, and a weak and small can eat only once the ‘boss’ is fed. So I destroyed this hierarchy a bit, by feeding exclusively a small favourite of mine 🙂

From your table you can access directly the narrow beach (you’re just one step away), observe the pinkest sunset ever, drink rose and prepare for 30 min of climbing up the hill towards the bus stop.

That’s what I forgot to mention – the bus leaves you on the top of the hill (comfy if you are about to enter the Poseidon temple), but if you don’t want to stay at the only restaurant available on the hill top (obviously it’s overpriced, and not a ‘local go’ place), then you’ll be willing to walk those 30 min down & up, for a great atmosphere, mouthwatering meal, and, btw, the view over the coast and the temple is much more unique from the bottom, than from where everyone else is…

But this wasn’t the end of the day for us. We had Napoleon plans for the nightlife in Athens. Not being a nightlife creature, I’ve spent a while on researching and finding (!) the best places, loved above all by locals.

Our first attempt was ‘Drunk Sinatra’ and I fell in love from the entrance. Actually, the entrance was the only thing I saw 😐 A magnetic vintage red curtain covering the entrance and then you hear that the bar is full, without even passing the curtain… I’m still disappointed that I couldn’t see the inside… It’s well known that Sinatra is always fully booked, so be smart and make a reservation!

photo credit: elle.gr

Well, I always have spare jokers in my sleeves 🙂 So we continued our night in Noel – definitely the most beautiful and amusing night spot in Athens. Also fully occupied, but there was no one meeting us at the entrance door, so we sneaked in and found two tiny chairs at the stand. Everything in Noel is sophisticated and created with an overwhelming love to design. Even the menu was something exceptional, so well-done, that we even took photos of every single page 🙂

That’s where our night ended.

My heels flew me above the old city’s cobblestones and AthensWas disappointed by the absence of a kettle 🙂

Day #3 The best breakfast place in Athens, and the best dinner place and the best bar in Athens discovered on the same day. In between we had a trip to Mont Parnes Casino…

The third day in Athens was dedicated for late breakfasts and … casino! And again my super-planning nature faced the problem with finishings… Imagine me reading the reviews of the casino saying that you should take your passport with you to enter. Is there any possible answer I could give than ‘am I stupid not to take a passport to a casino’. And guess what happened 🙂

Let’s start from the beginning – the breakfast.

Perhaps, that was the best breakfast in Athens. Well, they were all great (especially those consumed, when others are about to have dinner), but this time I would like to point out the exceptional spot for breakfasting.

Couleur Locale is a 100% my style place! You go to the Monastiraki flea market, walk around, then secretly turn right to an empty street with some vintage shops, take care for not being noticed, turn right again now into the passeige and see in front of you a bar. Don’t stay on the ground floor (unless great fun is happening there), but take the elevator to the highest level possible (although in case you walk, you’ll see some antique chairs and tables at every level for a perfect selfie). Enter the rooftop terrace, say hello to Acropolis, find a chair and a piece of table, and order the reward for the dangerous spy route.

No jokes, the atmosphere is so completely local, that there is nothing left to do but to say ‘kalimera’.

As (an almost) local host who even had her own guest, I promised to show a casino with a view!

The Regency Casino is hanging on a level of 1055 meters on Mont Parnitha, in the centre of Athens National Forest. And I clap for the Casino to facilitate the access to this national park! They constructed their own private cable car station to give a special experience to those on their way to the heaven of table games. The funicular is free and no one requires you to use it only in case you come to gamble, in fact, many people use the cable car to get to the top and then enjoy a hike in the national park to get back down on their own, by foot. Besides that there is a free shuttle service for those having fear of heights.

On the other hand, if you are not using the shuttle, getting to the Regency Casino cable car station access is a bit problematic. It takes around 2h according to google maps and those who did the long route, and you’ll have to change 3 times, after which walk 22 min more… We chose uber, because we already missed half of the day by sleeping, so time was a concern.

This is your destination name for accessing the station for navigation: Cable Car Station, Parnithos, Acharnes. Our uber ride wasn’t more than 20 EUR, it took us 30 min to get there. I don’t know how much are the bus/train tickets, but if it’s 2 people and 3 changes, at the end it won’t cost less than our actual ride.

The problem is when you want to return from the casino. You won’t call uber, it just doesn’t find drivers in the area, but you’ll get only taxi drivers waiting for lost eyed first comers. Well, we had to take a cab, not too many options around. It went allright, and the total cost was 25 EUR, but the disgusting moment was at the end when the driver, who spoke okayish English all our way to Athens, stopped understanding a word after we asked for a receipt. Not a big deal, we could have called the police, but it wasn’t the amount to fight for and lose our precious time. However, after this episode I’m ready to cut a tongue of anyone who blames uber for whatever blamable against taxis.

Talking about the amazing casino 🙂 It was very good looking, a bit oldish, but let’s call it vintage. And here comes me with my ‘I always have my ID in the wallet’, who was proposing the receptionist to see the missing ID on a photo in my phone. Why not? 😉 There is always a chance, but this time it didn’t work out.

The restaurant was opening at 7 pm (we were a bit early birds), and all we could afford was getting out to the national park, taking panoramas and having fun of Greek children happily playing with the poor snow which they almost never see ‘downstairs’, in Athens.

We were a bit in a hurry though… Since a very special dining experience was waiting for us in the city!

Strofi restaurant is not something you will find in the buzzling centre of Athens. Strofi restaurant is not something which will advertise itself. Strofi restaurant is not for tourists. It’s for local gourmands (including expats who love it), who are coming there for a fine dining experience. And it will be traditional Greek cuisine, but completely different from the one you can find in the best Greek tavernas. Really, I was impressed!

We booked a table on their rooftop terrace, of course, with Acropolis view. For the main course we ordered lamb wrapped in vine leaves and goat baked in parchment paper and both were unbelievably delicious, that we even couldn’t decide whose meal is better. My guest even had the idea of coming here every evening for a dinner 🙂

What happened afterwards? Another local night out did 🙂

Baba au Rum – you won’t notice it from outside, but once you’re in, you won’t go anywhere until the party ends. Ranked among world’s 50 best bars in 2016, and, right now, when I’m writing these lines, I’m really missing the possibility of going out to Baba.

What impressed me the most was the service we got from the very entrance. No one prohibited entering, even though the bar was full. We got in, looked around the crowd and felt like it’s hopeless to find a spot, so we were about to leave, when the waiter caught us and offered two places at the DJs stand, for the beginning, as he said. And that was good enough for us till the end.

This was something in between the discipline of Sinatra and freedom of Noel. In the first you couldn’t enter because it’s full, in the second – no one cares if you entered unless you find yourself a spot, that’s when they come and serve you. Here it was crowded, but we got a helper to find a place 🙂 And the cocktails are amazing, just as their website says!

Day #4 Relocation to Hotel Grande Bretagne. The Benaki Toy Museum and the best taverna in Athens

This day was the check in to Hotel Grande Bretagne – my favourite out of all the hotels during this trip. A very lively lobby full of people, arriving and leaving, or just chit chatting next to the Christmas tree. The wedding of Prince and Princess of Montenegro took place in the hotel on the day we arrived 🙂 In a nutshell, it’s one of those 5* hotels which are not only showing stars, but also align the level of service and the quantity of stars.

We got the needed attention from the hotel’s employees, we enjoyed the spa downstairs with saunas and pool, and all the facilities were on the highest level. I can’t remember that I had some comments about possible improvements)) Only some modern buttons would be nice in the rooms – like ‘clean up’ or ‘do not disturb’ 🙂

Next in the plan was the Toy Museum! To be more specific it’s The Benaki Toy Museum, and it was logical (at least for me) to expect that the Benaki Museum on the maps, is exactly where the Toy Museum is. Not at all!

We came to the Benaki Museum, which made me suspicious from the very entrance, since they were announcing some religious expositions. At the reception we were told that the toy museum is at a different address and we can access it maybe by tram.

We took uber, which was around 5-7 EUR, but there are, of course other ways of getting there:

line B2 – here is the route – you should get off at ΟΥΛΕΝ, Palaio Faliro. It will take 20 min. The address of the Toy Museum is Leof. Posidonos 14, Palaio Faliro – use this address for google maps.

By foot – it’ll take 1:30 to 2 hours – but it’s a pleasant walk in Athens towards the sea, especially when the weather is nice.

The museum is very well done, and a great fun if you are with kids. The entrance ticket is 8 EUR/p, reduced for children. Some of the toys are actually functioning and you can spend some time on playing with your kids. I just enjoyed the atmosphere around, since most of the visitors are Greek families, so it was another roleplay for me, feeling that I’m also a local from Athens 🙂

You’ll find a Marina in front of the Toy Museum, across the road. That’s where you can stay longer and visit the Neraida Floating Museum – one of the free things to do in Athens, how about that? 🙂

Besides the museum visit, you can have lunch in the marina area – an option for those who came when the boat-museum was already closed 🙂 We’ve been to Napolitivo, and just next to it you can find TGI Friday.

The evening continued at our newly beloved hotel’s spa and followed by a night out in another Greek tavern 🙂

This time it was Orea Penteli – full of locals, nice Greek food and welcoming staff. The restaurant has 3 floors – underground, ground and first floor, and imagine to move dishes and meals between these, they installed a small elevator for food commuting only 🙂 That food traffic entertained me a lot, but besides this fun, there was also a very good band playing Greek music (of course). I liked a lot the singer’s voice and we stayed till the very end, until they stopped playing.

The location to Orea Penteli is here – again, because of their name been inserted in google maps in Cyrillic, you won’t find them, unless you have a Greek keyboard.

Since the taverna doesn’t have a website, the only source of information is your ears. We were on Thursday and they had the band in. Walk around (not earlier than 9:30) and either ask or stop where you’ll hear bouzouki 🙂 Actually there are many tavernas in that square, and the ones I know, are just the neighbours, almost next doors – it’s Oinopoleion (where we celebrated our arrival with a Greek band), the other is Taverna Tour Psirri, which was on my check list, but we couldn’t manage to visit all the Greek tavernas due to lack of stomach capacity.

Day #5 A guide to best fish restaurants in Piraeus, or where to eat fish in Athens

Next day I woke up as early as possible to enjoy a walk in Athens, just aimless pedestrian experience 🙂 I walked up to Acropolis by a secret route which I knew last year (when my local host showed it), and discovered that this year many people started using that half-hidden path 🙂 I went down to Monastiraki, my favourite square in the city, and then hardly passed through Ermou street – perhaps, the busiest in Athens.

Ermou is full of trade – not only shops, known and unknown outside of Greece, but also salep & simit sellers (so common in Turkey). Then I discovered amazing coconut bars and bought a few home, and, of course, realized, that shopping on this street doesn’t make sense, only passing by does. Sunglasses I liked costed 300 EUR in a shop on Ermou, in Athens airport it was 180 EUR, and I’m not talking about tax free… So just pass and enjoy the atmosphere 🙂

It was the first time we’ve visited Piraeus within this stay. And let’s talk about how to get to Piraeus from Athens in details:

There is a metro line M1 which takes you to Piraeus from Monastiraki station in less than 20 min

The ticket is 2,9/person and you can buy only a 2-trip ticket in the machine (at least that’s how I understood it)

And here you are in Piraeus – the ancient port of Athens, full of huge ferries, arriving and departing, and also some exclusive boats like the one we saw 😉 It was Al Mirqab – one of the largest motor yachts in the world, owned by former Qatar’s Prime Minister.

Piraeus is popular for two things – it’s a departure point for local and international ferries, and for its seafood restaurants. Locals love the fish restaurants in Piraeus, in fact, you will hardly find a Greek ordering seafood in Athens centre. Why? If in 20 minutes you can get the best of it with a view of yachts.

We chose Thea Thalassa (Sea View) restaurant, for its perfect view, rustic Greek interior and availability of tables on the terrace at the window. Although we were targeting another place – Varoulko Seaside, which happened to be a very famous Michelin star restaurant. But it wasn’t the place + mood + hunger for Michelin dining. We wanted ouzo and calamari! Luckily, the choice was made correctly and we weren’t disappointed at all!

The funny part of it was that most probably the head waiter and the waiter were father and son. And poor guy, he dropped everything he could, he messed up whatever he was involved into, and his father just kept complaining and hurrying him up 🙂

Day #6 Aegina island trip from Piraeus, which was actually a quadbike driving marathon

We had a crazy idea of returning to Piraeus again, now for a sea trip! The destination was Aegina – the closest island to Piraeus. If you won’t be tight on time (I mean you’re able to wake up early to make it for the ferry, I would rather suggest Hydra island. It’s a bit further, but locals say it’s enchanting by the rustic style it kept in this modern world. The island is car-free – only donkeys, and maybe some motorbikes 🙂

The schedule for Aegina ferries is here – the fastest boat is the ‘Flying Dolphin’ from Hellenic Seaways – it takes 40 min, but all this time you’ll be sitting inside the cabin (since it goes really fast, there is no, almost no, open deck), and there is no possibility to board with vehicle. The ‘Dolphin’ is more expensive than the other one.

The other option is a ‘classical’ ferry from Saronic Ferries – the route will take 1h15min. The tickets can be purchased either online, or in the port, and I didn’t notice a difference in price, however, for the ‘Dolphin’ the tickets might not be available anymore before the departure. It all depends on the day and time, since some locals might use it for getting at work.

The schedule for ferries to Hydra is available on the same website. It takes either 2h by the ‘Flyingcat’ or 1h35 min by the ‘Flying Dolphin’ – both operated by Hellenic Seaways.

As soon as we arrived to Aegina port we faced an obstacle which we couldn’t overcome. Quadbike hire office 🙂 The price is between 20 and 45 EUR a day + fuel. Fuel tip: don’t fill full tank at the petrol station, the usage is very small, you’ll bring it back almost full (when the rental office requires a quarter full). Here is the link to the rental agency we used, they also have cars, motorcycles, bicycles etc.

What are the things to do in Aegina? Well, don’t expect too much, the situation looks the following way:

The bike/car rental will provide you a map with all the sites to see and explains how to g et there

But I was I and prepared the itinerary the day before myself

There are some historical sites on this small island, a monastery, and beautiful coastal area with the best fish restaurants in Aegina

Although the biggest fun part was riding it all around on a quadbike with a maximum speed of 35 km/h 🙂

But talking about the historical sites:

Monastery of Agios Nektarios – a pilgrimage spot for orthodox people, where they visit the cell of Saint Nektarios. A beautiful monastery, can’t say anything against, but I’m not too much interested in religious places, although respect those who come there, and try not to disturb them by being a tourist in a saint’s cell.

However we’ve spent a while here, because the area is large and you can take the stairs from the monastery up to the Saint’s cell, on your way you’ll have a great photo spot with a view 🙂

Paleahora – a medieval village on the hills. From 9th to 19th century it was the island’s capital, now only the castle’s ruins and numerous churches remained. The story says that there were 365 churches, one for each day of the year, today the confirmed number of churches is 70, out of them 33 are open to visitors. The majority of the churches are getting destroyed just in front of your eyes, and it’s a shame that there is no ongoing restoration. On the contrary, the quarry nearby causes a lot of damage. We met a local boy and his father who warned us about not entering into ‘small caves’ if we spot some. Indeed, you’ll spot some of those on your way walking up to the hill, they are ruins of the ancient town, almost buried in soil, so commonly called ‘caves’.

Temple of Aphaia – the cult activity on the site was continuous from the 14th century BC, the ruins of the temple you’ll find today belong to the 5th century BC, they were built on top of several previous temples. The entrance ticket is 3 EUR/p and it takes you 2 min to walk around the temple and take a few photos. In my opinion, it didn’t make much sense to enter, because for me Greece is much more than the ancient ruins. But I don’t deny that it thanks to the great past the ambience of the country became so much liked by me, and, probably, by those millions of visitors from all around the world.

Perdika coast – that’s the park which we couldn’t cover, but it’s said to be the most beautiful side of the island with beaches and seafood restaurants. From here you can also take a boat taxi (8 min) to Moni island. It has no inhabitants, only goats and peacocks, deep water for diving and fishing and sandy beaches for those fishermen’s families. The regular boats go from Easter to September, although if you are in Perdika, I’m sure you’ll find a ride 🙂

Pistachio – Aegina is called a ‘pistachio island’ so as soon as you arrive you’ll see many sales points 😀

What we did is that before leaving the island we had dinner in a coastal restaurant. No, we didn’t have time to visit Perdika, but found a nice spot closer to the port – O Mantas sto Kima – they have live music quite often, just in case you’ll decide to stay overnight in Aegina 😉 The food was very good, we only regret for not being able to stay longer and enjoy it without being on the run.

The only thing we could do after returning from this quad bike driving trip back to Athens is getting upstairs to our rooftop bar in Grande Bretagne and enjoying the view of … guess what? Of course, Acropolis! Didn’t I say you can see it from almost everywhere))

The GB rooftop bar doesn’t deserve to be called ‘everywhere’, at least because it’s pricey, but what else can you expect on the roof of a 5* hotel!

Day #7 Celebrating New Year in Athens, Greece – with some inevitable adventures

It was the New Year’s Eve! Actually the reason we travelled to Athens. So after a late breakfast in Mani Mani we only had some little time to walk around, drink a tea in another rooftop bar with a view, and do our make-up 🙂

But let’s see the bullet points of this special day:

Breakfast (in lunch time) in Mani Mani – originally wanted to eat in Lotte bistro, but when we arrived they apologized saying that they have problems with electricity and the kitchen is not functioning. The next closest spot on my list of best restaurants in Athens was Mani Mani. New York Times recommended it amongst best restaurants, shops & sights in Athens, and maybe that’s the reason you’ll see lots of foreigners there. I didn’t like the food, it was too fusion 😀 Just look at the Greek salad in their understanding of it :)I don’t eat onions, so in Greek salads, since they are cut in large pieces, I happily remove them from the plate. In this interpretation of the famous salad the onions were almost in a puree state… I wish I knew :||The location is nice, it’s also a bit like hidden, doesn’t attract your attention from outside. The food is also good, but a bit too specific, and depends on your taste, of course. So check it out, maybe that’s exactly what you were looking for in Athens, or maybe not at all))

The National Garden, used to be the Royal Garden – greenery and peace in the heart of Athens. Locals with their children and dogs 🙂 I would imagine myself here sitting on the Zappeion’s stairs with a laptop open on my knees.

The Presidential Palace (or Maison) – just in front of the garden and something very much fun happens here daily, hourly. Perhaps you heard about the guard change at the Parliament, which happens hourly at Syntagma. And guess what! We were passing by to reach the National Garden, when the guard was leaving the Parliament (after the change) and heading towards… god knows where…

I imagined that I’m a princess and they guard me, that’s why I walk directly behind those tall guys with a weird walking manner. In fact, they stopped at a luxurious ‘maison’ and started to perform the ‘guard change’. Which was much more interesting to observe, almost alone, one-to-one with the guard, rather than staying in a crowd at Syntagma.

It seems like they perform the same guard change at the Presidential Palace every hour – in my case it started at 16:15, so I guess you can keep in mind it as a starting point for the hourly calculations.

The Panathenaic Stadium – where the first Olympics were held. Well, I saw it, but didn’t enter. The tickets are 10 EUR/p, and let’s say we bought them and payed 20 EUR for spending 5 min on the marble benches, taking some photos. But I’m very happy that we haven’t, because this really doesn’t make sense, and it’s very rude and unfair for taking this entrance fee for a passive activity like visiting a large piece of marble. It is beautiful, but it doesn’t fulfill you, best case your Instagram.

City Zen – the evening tea spot in Athens with a view of the Acropolis. Since we didn’t try anything besides tea, I can’t speak too much about their menu. But the place seems to be less popular than 360° and less pricey. If your main goal is to visit a rooftop bar with a view – it might be a very suitable place 🙂

And then preparations for the most important dinner of the year 🙂 Guess what, even here I managed to make a story with adventures!

We made a reservation well in advance for a NYE dinner at Hotel St George Lycabettus

Here I have to quote my Instagram post from that evening (I can’t let the emotions go, unless I publish them somewhere))

Imagine you are booking a NYE dinner in a hotel calling themselves as: ‘AWARDED BEST LUXURY ROOFTOP VIEW HOTEL at World Luxury Hotel Awards 2017’

… and then you are placed at a table behind the DJs back next to the kitchen, in a hall which probably doesn’t function as a restaurant, even the ceiling is much lower than the first hall

Imagine you are in this very festive #newyearmood

… and then the Head Waiter says that he ensured everyone was informed about being placed in this ‘backyard’ and almost blames you actually lie, that you weren’t ?

Imagine that he is that arrogant that looks like ready to slap you for not being happy with the kitchen table 🙂

… did I mention that the welcome drink is whiskey (sorry, ladies) and nothing else, the price for the dinner in the restaurant hall and the ‘backyard ‘ is the same (150 EUR/p) and we didn’t even hear a single sorry from the Head ? Waiter ???

that what I call a 5* hotel

Happy New Year @stgeorge_lycabettus_hotel ???

Hope in 2018 you’ll learn what is #customerservice ?’

I guess you got the point. We received the refund of our deposit and sat in the hall calling all the existing restaurants and hotels in Athens city, at 10 pm, on the 31st of December, if they have a table available (by chance)).

After numerous attempts we were able to get the desired ‘yes’ from Athenaeum InterContinental Athens – again a rooftop, but fair, no one is sat in the kitchen, lobby, or balcony, a very nice dinner in elegant surroundings and intelligent audience and service.

A bit boring though… It was that kind of audience which sits quietly at their table, consuming their food and talking about … maybe… weather 😉 There was a singer during the dinner, but she never stood up from her chair, or changed the notes of her voice once it got closer to the festive midnight.

However, I’m very happy that we ended up here, in a good place, again with Acropolis view 😀 But next year I’ll make sure to find a place where people celebrate loud (but not wild), where they express their excitement about the clock ticking towards a new year (and do have this excitement!).

I’ve been to French Riviera and Provence in the past. For me it seems like it was during a completely different life, in fact, it couldn’t be more than 4 years ago. Me wasn’t me, the one I know today. I had no idea about how to plan holidays, how to do research, I only knew (thanks to Coco Chanel’s biography) that there is a magical town in the hills above Cote d’Azur. It’s called Grasse (amongst other melodious French town names, not the most attractive one, isn’t it?), and that’s the place where Chanel №5 was created by Ernest Beaux. That’s where the capital of world perfumery is located, since the town has the best natural resources for scent creation.

That’s why after landing in Grenoble, and spending there a short day, I was absolutely sure that I want to visit Grasse 🙂 Do you have these insane moments when a tiny, needle sized detail makes you sure that there is a place where you should be. And there is no other option rather than accomplishing.

Those years I had no clue about ‘activities’, I didn’t know about workshops around, cool local places, authentic things to do. What I knew is that I can create my own perfume in one of the perfumery factories in Grasse. Which I did and that’s how my ‘Liberté’ was born in Galimard – a perfumery founded by Jean de Galimard Lord of Seranon, who supplied King Luis with essential oils and perfumes.

I’m still getting excited remembering Grasse. So I’m planning to repeat my journey to the most beautiful part of Europe – French Riviera. But this time I’ll use all the knowledge gained in lots of previous trips – I’ll cover both mountains and sea, I’ll spend time on local agriculture, but won’t forget about fancy yacht trips, I’ll see the lavender fields in bloom, but I also exctract lavender oil in a small distillery, I’ll go cooking to Nice and visit a 2000 ha lake, maybe I’ll join a painting class in Luberon, but at the end, I’m sure you’ll find me wine-tasting in Chateau Sainte Roseline…

Would you like to join me? At the moment I’m just looking for attractive plane tickets for July/August 2018 🙂

⇓ ⇓ ⇓

Other than that …

⇒ If you wish to plan your trip on your own – use the menu on the top right corner or just below in the Read More section. You’ll find out about ALL the possible activities in the region, then some authentic places to stay and eat, and also information about Nice Airport.

⇒ If you want me to tailor you a Provencal trip which will suit your personality, occassion, mood and purpose of travelling, then leave your note at Customised Tours page. I”ll reply you almost immediately 🙂

Definitely Malta has its advantages, but let me admit, it’s not my favourite holiday destination. However, I don’t want to be negative – you’ll see my story below and understand, what went wrong. First of all, let’s start from the reasons why Malta is a great holiday place for you, my dear reader:

If you are a diver – (and excuse me in advance, if I’m saying something stupid now – I’m not even a tiny bit of a diver 🙂 – Malta is a rocky island and the waters around it are deep. By the way, the biggest white shark was caught at Gozo! The ‘pre-African’ shelf is very rich of sea life, in fact, there is a possibility of encountering unexplored ordnance, especially in places like Filfla island, where fishing, because of this reason, was prohibited until 1990.

There are plenty of diving clubs offering their services to both beginners and advanced divers, the sea is crystal clear and the topography of the island is so various (you can dive wrecks, caves and tunnels, shallow reefs, drop offs and archways, which are unforgettable due to 20 – 40 meter visibility), that I’m sure there is a lot to explore!

If you are learning English – who doesn’t know that there are plenty of English schools & camps where regardless of your age you can combine learning & being on a beautiful holiday island. Malta is not only full of native English expats, at the same time I couldn’t find a Maltese person not speaking English. Therefore you can immerse in English environment without getting the UK weather 🙂

If you like been understood on holidays – Italy is great, but it’s so rare to find English-speaking Italians 🙂 This was my first holiday without a language barrier – each and every person I met spoke enough English to communicate. Perhaps, that’s why I had so many interesting conversations with the taxi drivers.

If you are a history addict – and especially WW II – I was surprised to find out that the biggest quantity of bombs during World War II where thrown on Malta (over 6000!). This lead to two outcomes: 1) there is a huge quantity of museums dedicated to weapon & WW II; 2) most of the island is destroyed, so don’t expect to walk too much along romantic medieval streets. True, there are places untouched by WW II, like Mdina, but the majority is new construction.

Well, that’s it, I guess. Additionally, you may find yourself in Malta because of your cruise stop, or by coming here on a wedding (it is a popular wedding celebration spot).

So in case you happened to be in Malta and you want to know what to do, where to go, what to see and what not, please be my guest 🙂

See my experience below or go directly to What to do in Malta page for the broadest selection of activities.

Marsaxlokk is a fishermen village with an open market, which mainly sells great fish & seafood, and also other ‘useful’ household items ?

It’s not worth spending there more than 1-2 hours – but it’s important that you come early morning 7-8 am to 10-11, after 12 the stalls become emptier, and the market will actually close by 2 pm!

I arrived early morning when the market was just waking up, and it was great since I could catch the best photo moment – sunrise. Those beautiful fishing boats called in Maltese ‘luzzu’ are worth coming, and the bay looks really cute. Every ‘luzzu’ has two Osiris eyes on it – painted or carved, it was brought here by Phoenicians.

Tavsan Surat loved taking selfies in the port ⇓

As a breakfast spot we recommend the Duncan restaurant just at the church in the centre. They have pastizzi and serve tea in glass ? They open at 7-7:30 and that’s where I waited for the bright sunrise 🙂

After I walked around the village up and down, my taxi arrived and took me to Siggiewi.

9:00 am – taxi from Marsaxlokk to Malta Falconry Centre in Siggiewi

Yeesss! I was really looking forward to this experience. Imagine real falcons all around, you can keep them on your hand, feed or even fly!

The Malta Falconry Centre is more of a shelter, rather than a falconry centre where people would learn hunting with birds of prey. It’s a family run project, I can’t call it business, because their intentions don’t concern profit. Doreen – the owner, is like a mother to all their birds. In fact she’s feeding them in her kitchen from their first day of life, it’s not a surprise that these birds feel more like humans, not birds. However, we don’t forget about their instincts!

The centre has a rule – they only keep birds which are grown up been surrounded by humans. They buy birds from people who are not satisfied with their breeding, hunting, appearance characteristics, or find owners which are not taking care of their pets, then Doreen buys them out. The centre also sells birds (some of them enjoy their new life so much, that they give birth quite often!), but only to people from the island, whom they know and can keep an eye on the future of the sold birds.

Coming to a place like this and paying for admission or the experiences is more like a donation, supporting the great job the centre does by giving a second life to unwanted pets.

I booked a half-day experience which starts at 9:30 and finishes at 12:30. There is also a full-day experience which lasts until 14:30. During the experience you meet all the birds, hear about their ‘life stories’, than prepare them for the flight show which happens at 11:30. By preparing I mean mainly weighting – because birds fly only at a certain weight. Their weight influences their hunting need as well – birds hunt only if they get the ‘hunting weight’. So it happens the following way: the bird reached its flying weight, it flies, gets lighter and reaches the hunting weight.

That’s why in order to demonstrate birds flying during the show, it’s important to put them on the scale. And they never reach the hunting weight here in the centre – because we remember about their instincts. A bird with too low weight might fly away and look food on its own.

All these we did with the centre’s falconer – Warren. He is a passionate professional of falconry and regularly joins world falconry expos, competitions and even huntings, as one of the best falconers of Malta.

By the end I was so touched by the destiny of these birds, their instincts, behaviour, that I even adopted one 🙂 Of course, only on paper! In the centre you have a possibility to adopt a bird for a year – it costs 50 EUR, and the money goes for the bird’s maintenance. As a reward (but actually knowing they are fed is the biggest reward, isn’t it?) you will get a framed certificate hanging on the wall at the centre’s reception, stating that you adopted a bird for a year. As well you’ll get a certificate by email, together with photos and the story of life of your bird.

Taxi from Siggiewi to Mdina

Now it was time for sightseeing. Everyone in the web says ‘You should definitely visit Mdina’, so even I was hooked.

Mdina is a typical medieval town; you can find a looooot like this around Europe. Without even brainstorming I can instantly suggest Girona and Bologna, for similar colour range, and then many more. So that wasn’t too exciting for me… Of course walking along narrow warm terracotta coloured streets is great (especially for instagram), but there are no real experiences to join. I mean there are some museums to visit – some noble houses where you can see how does a Maltese luxury look like, besides that a couple of nice restaurants and that’s it.

Being optimistic I planned to spend 2h in Mdina and 1h in Rabat. However, 2 hours for both sites is the most, in my opinion.

So after walking around and taking all the possible photos, I went to a very recommended place. It comes out first if you search for Mdina, check tripadvisor or actually any other travel advisory.

‘When in Mdina you should definitely go to Fontanella tea garden. Their view is astonishing and cakes are just a masterpiece’. I’m literally quoting the reviews.

So we went.

Since many other people read those reviews there was a queue to the terrace with the ‘astonishing view’, yes, exactly, a queue to get a table. At first I also stood in that queue, than I came back to my senses and remembered that I’m never waiting for a table. Still since it was said that the cakes are a masterpiece I decided to get a table in their patio and enjoy the dessert. In the menu you’ll find two categories with cakes – one with normal cakes, the second – something like signature cakes. So of course I ordered from the second one. My strawberry Meringue cake was nothing but sugar. It didn’t have any special flavors to remember. It costed around 6,5 EUR I guess, but the portion was enormous.

Being not interested in the place anymore, I ate some parts of the cake and left very soon. I turned right and saw a ‘public’ observation deck just next to Fontanella offering exactly the same view. And the view actually is not too special, but is available and for free, and is exactly the one I would see from Fontanella.

And in case you want sweets & view, let me suggest another scenario. You go to Fior di latte for an ice-cream (it’s just near Fontanella and in front of the observation deck) and eat it under the pine tree at the above mentioned observation deck.

Out of local restaurants which caught my eye were:

Coogi’s restaurant – a great terrace restaurant & tea garden on St Agatha esplanade, just going right from Fontanella. The street is quiet and the restaurant is known by locals mainly

Before heading towards Rabat, I wanted to check out a park which was mentioned as a local spot, not very known by tourists. It’s called il-Foss, Mdina Ditch Gardens, and as you might guess the park is located in a ditch. It’s very stark, spacious and empty, not a shady park for lazy time spending on a bench.

However, if you want some peace & silence, that’s a great place to escape to. But beware that the park closes for the night, meaning they will really lock all the entrances, and there were some cases when people were locked in =)

Walk to Rabat

Now it was time for Rabat, my maps showed it’s around 30 min to go, so I said ‘why not’, after all I’ve spent enough on taxis that day. Exiting Mdina I saw a bus, it’s screen said ‘Rabat’, so happily I asked the driver if he goes there. He was a bit confused and said that Rabat is over there, showing me like if it is just behind the corner.

I decided to interpret it as the bus stop is on the other side of the street. So I asked some ladies if the bus from this stop goes to Rabat, and they said they don’t know, but Rabat is here…. So in fact, Rabat starts as soon as you exit Mdina and lasts probably for the next 30 min walking time (as mentioned by my maps).

Since I understood that Rabat is actually almost the same as Mdina – a bit less tourists, but the same architecture, I just walked across it and since I was ready to walk, I went for some 30 min till Dingli village, from which it’s only 20 min till the famous cliffs.

On my way in Rabat I noticed a very cozy looking place to eat & snack:

Chalk Café Bar – the have a great exterior, and I guess a matching interior, that’s how they made me stop for a shoot.

Besides that on your way from Rabat to Dingli you can enter the famous catacombs – St. Paul’s & St. Agatha’s. These are Christian burial catacombs from the 4th to 9th century AD. I didn’t go there, because: a) I don’t like burial catacombs; b) it was Sunday and they were closed 🙂

Walk to Dingli Cliffs

In 30 min I found myself in Dingli village. Unfortunately, there is nothing special to tell you about, I only found a nice church.

Although only now, when putting it all into words, I managed to find something out-of-the-box:

Diar il-Bniet – is a family run restaurant & estate with a field to fork concept. The estate is located in Dingli, and it’s called Diar il-Bniet, which means ‘House for the Girls’. Some people might scare you saying they still see the mysterious girls-ghosts walking around.

Today it’s an estate run by a family promoting their grandma’s recipes, the 600 acres of field is religiously ploughed, you’ll find only organic

production there and some of their olive trees date back to 12th century…

You can book a table in their restaurant, visit their shop or even join a cooking class & tour around the estate.

I wish I found them that day 🙁

Dingli Cliffs

So I’ve spent 20 min more on walking till the cliffs. The Dingli cliffs are the highest point on Malta island – 253m above sea.

Definitely you should admire the site’s natural beauty from the sea (which I didn’t manage to do). Just take an ‘around island’ boat trip from Valletta, or other larger ports.

Talking about the view from the top ?

? If you look down from the cliffs, you’ll see the fields where locals still work (the fields were the reason Dingli village appeared). So it’s very important not to throw stones just for fun from the height ✌

? The tiny island in front of the cliffs (you can also see it on the photo) made me very curious – Dingli is on the southern part of the island, so it’s not Gozo, as you might thought.

☝The name of the islet is Filfla – it used to be a training field for the British army.

Nowadays uninhabited, possibly was sacred to the ancient inhabitants of Malta – the neolithic temples Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra are built on the Maltese side precisely in front of Filfla.

?that is the island I would definitely visit if I had a boat and a ‘boat driving’ licence

? Although keep in mind that you must get a special permission to visit it, since the entrance is allowed only for those with scientific and educational intentions.

Blue Grotto Beach

I was really tired after this walking all around, my knee was also aching, so I called a taxi and decided to go to a place where I not only see the sea, but also have a chance to get wet!

Most of the nice beaches suitable for swimming are located on the north-west & north-east of the island, so just the opposite to where I was… And I really wanted to go towards Valletta – it was late afternoon, no willing for long trips and high cab rates 🙂 So the closest ‘swimmable’ place was the Blue Grotto and actually it’s a ‘must-see spot, so why not?

When I entered the taxi the driver said he can’t understand why people come here (to Dingli cliffs): nothing to do, just to look down. Partially, I agreed. So I said that now I’m going to Blue grotto, where I at least can swim. He ignored these words.

We arrived to a village and he said it’s here. I asked where is blue, where is grotto, he said it’s over there (again this ‘behind the corner’ saying!), and added ‘there is no beach there’. I left the cab in an angry mood, typed in google Blue Grotto and found out that it’s some 25 min away.

In fact the guy brought me to Żurrieq – a town next to the Blue grotto. So I was forced to walk again, but I don’t regret.

Blue Grotto at sunset

There are boats to the caves around Blue grotto – from April till October 9 am to 5 pm, from November till March – 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. These are the working hours of the kiosk selling tickets to Blue Grotto and the caves, prices are 8 and 4 EUR – adult & child. I heard the most impressive is to visit the caves in the morning!

It must be quite lively here when the boats are departing, but unfortunately and luckily I missed the boat times, so the place was almost empty.

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So I reached the beach which I was told doesn’t exist.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

… but I rely on my research capabilities more than on a taxi driver who picked me up at Dingli and said ‘I’m Maltese, but I’ve never been here’ ? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

So once you get to the Blue Grotto (googlemaps will lead you precisely), just keep going down towards the kiosks selling tickets on boat trips to the caves. Go down till the very end and you’ll see this ‘swimming place’

Correct, this is not a type of beach you can sunbath, let you children play in the sand, take an umbrella….⠀

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But it’s a great place to swim – the water is deep and there are stairs (I felt like in a swimming pool), and after the shallow beaches in Larnaka, and then rocky beaches in Malta, I really enjoyed a swim here. I met there only locals who confirmed they come to swim to this specific place all year round.

I also met something & someone special. There were 5 kittens and their mother (actually, just like Greece, Malta is full of good-looking street cats), living under a boat. I was sitting there and waiting for my taxi back to Valletta (finally!). A woman came with a pink transportation cage, I was suspicious, and also the people around were. She said she’s feeding them here, and then taking the babies at home for the night, and on the next day morning brings them back to freedom & port life : >

Valletta dinner

I found some nice restaurants in Valletta when preparing for my trip and decided to go to restaurant described as ‘small, cozy place with local cuisine’. Unfortunately, I couldn’t check out if it’s true…

There is a tiny problem of solo travelers, at least in my case. When travelling alone I never pack any fine-dining outfits or make-up, I go and spend my time as a simple, natural beauty 🙂

Besides that, restaurants are not very happy about dedicating a whole table to one single person (unless they know you well, and know you eat big & leave tips).

So after being unsuccessful here and checking out the other recommended places, I was so desperate and tired that I just wanted to order food ‘home’ – Time to Eat Malta (if you find yourself in a similar drama!)

At the moment when I was actually half-way to order, I spotted a terrace on my way (just in the middle of Merchant street). It’s called Anglo-Maltese League, and this time the rating (3.1) was very precise. Well, the waiter is very friendly, he gets 5, but the food is far from being even a tiny bit sophisticated, it’s just average home cooking. I ordered rabbit stew and some white wine, and then of course black tea to finish this long day.

Day 2

The plan for this day was impressive. Just have a look to know how great that could be:

Wake up at 4 am

Taxi arrives at 4:45 and takes me to the northernmost part of the island, Cirkewwa port

I take a ferry at 5:45 to Gozo island

In Gozo I have breakfast and get a taxi to Ramla Bay – the most beautiful beach on the island (my personal opinion)

I spend 3 morning hours laying on the red sand & swimming and then get a cab back to the port

Boat to Comino islet at 11:30

A 90 min segway tour on an island which has only 4 inhabitants, but lots of greenery, caves and the famous Blue Lagoon

Boat to Cirkewwa, Malta

Bus to Golden Bay & lunch somewhere there

A 90 min horse riding tour on the sunset

A ‘Malta at night tour’, departure at 18:40, to see the beauty of Maltese sites at night

Arrival to Valleta at midnight

Oh, I was looking forward to this day soooo much!

But there are powers more influential than perfect planning. Mother Nature and weather, for example 🙂

Ramla Bay & Gozo

I knew it would rain that day, but some light summerish showers don’t hurt. When I woke up that morning I poked my nose into the open window to ‘smell the temperature’, and came to a conclusion that I don’t even need a jacket! But I took my pareo to use as a beach towel and wore the shortest shorts I have))

Ramla Bay – early morning, just at sunrise

So in fact when I was going by cab to Ramla bay the driver asked if I have an umbrella. I answered that I hope to get one on the beach. He said, it will rain and perhaps he has one… So when we arrived (the weather was getting worse and worse), he gave me a rain umbrella from his trunk! We agreed for pick-up at 11:15

So well-equipped I went to the beach.

my unforgettable beach set 🙂

Black clouds and thunderstorms on the horizon – I decided to swim until I can, because obviously it’s coming here. I had a fast morning swim in this crystal clear water, this beach is just created for light swims – the water isn’t shallow, but at the same time, I can’t call it deep, since the entrance is gradual.

Calypso cave on my right, dark black night-coloured storm in front of me, still blue morning shiny sky above my head, and a closed mojito bar behind. Perhaps it was my best beach getaway ever. It took me a while to relax and feel comfortable one-to-one with the sea, and once I did, I never felt that peaceful. I actually wrapped myself up in my pareo and lied down on the sand. That’s how I’ve spent almost two hours before the storm arrived (and passed!).

I used the closed beach bar to hide away from the rain and sever wind. I changed back to my shorts, and covered myself with the pareo, after some half an hour sitting like that I heard a voice from the closed bar, then a door getting unlocked, and the owner appeared behind me. He greeted the romantic girl sitting in the rain on his plastic chaired terrace, and the girl politely asked when do they open (I actually didn’t mind getting a tea!). He said they won’t. I waited for a while, didn’t want to pick up & run, opened my umbrella and went towards Xaghra – the closest village, so I could at least have some tea & treats.

When was the last time you walked on a countryside road, surrounded by a cactus jungle from one side, and vineyards from the other? And almost forgot, with an umbrella in your hand.

So you are just in between Sicily and Africa, the only live creatures you meet on your way are a shepherd and his sheep, and a taxi driver gives you an umbrella for the rain.

Every time life embeds some of these cutest surprises into my well-planned schedule, and I love them <:

They become the most remembered moments of travel, but I know that life awards you with these only when you spend enough effort on planning, otherwise you just end up walking around Mdina with other nice tourists.

I arrived to Xaghra, had 3 cups of tea and called my driver to pick me up from there.

However, the surprises were not over …

No Comino. Segway in Malta

During my stay at Ramla bay Sam from Comino Segway called me saying that most probably we won’t be able to make it today, the sea is stormy and the waves get very high, so the boats to Comino won’t go. We agreed to talk again around 11, so I had some weak hopes, but not too much. At the end, it was cancelled, but I really appreciated that Sam even sent me a list of things to do to fulfil the time I allowed for Segway.

I started to search for things to do in the northern part of the island – I already asked the driver to bring me to Mgarr port for the ferry, so I will definitely leave, arriving at the northern part of Malta.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find too exciting things to do/see – visiting Popeye village was too boring for me, going sightseeing is not my style, and I really wanted to do Segway. So there were two companies I found Segway Malta in Mellieha and Malta Segway Fun Tour. The first said they don’t go today (weather + Monday), the second said they might. So when I arrived to Cirkewwa I got a confirmation call from the Fun Tour, and they advised me the bus which would bring me to Bugibba/Qawra, it’s #221.

The Malta Segway Fun Tour is run by a British expat couple, I’m happy I got the segway ride, but Bugibba is definitely not a place where you should go for any kind of tour. It is destroyed, and not by WW II, but because of untidy people, with all my respect to Brits, most of the residents are UK expats and they transformed the place into English breakfast restaurants & Sky sport bars. There are some Brits which I love with all my heart, but most of the times those relocated to southern countries lose the sense of order, cleanliness, discipline. You guys feel like being on year-round holidays, year after year.

So our segway stops were at rubbish dumps looking for chameleons, and then the gentleman on the segway introduced me to local flora – pomegranate, lemon, olive, castor trees… And by the way, they promise to take photos of you during the tour and send it to you by email. I still didn’t get them.

I would definitely recommend joining a segway tour in Comino, they are really customer friendly even before you actually start the tour, but I wouldn’t recommend you to do a tour with Malta Segway Fun Tour.

Golden Bay Horse Riding. Restaurants in Golden Bay

From Bugibba I took bus #223 to Golden Bay where I was about to have my horse riding evening (I called them in advance to reconfirm if it’s not going to be cancelled). You have to get off at Riviera stop and walk approx. 10 min to Golden Bay, where the big (and 16 y.o.) Radisson Blue stays and a restaurant overlooking the bay. Here I had my fast & light lunch (before horse riding!), the restaurant’s name is Apple’s Eye. The cuisine is not too special, but it’s not bad either, so I’m very happy they have that restaurant in the bay.

I arrived to the horse rancho, and was a bit upset with the conditions. The place is too small for the quantity of horses they have, and it’s not too well maintained. Since I was the first and had to wait for the group to come, I’ve spent my time enjoying the spider nets on the ceiling.

But I have to admit, that the tour is a great experience, especially taking into account that there are not too many things to do in Malta.

It felt like Malta is created for this way of commuting :)) those rocky hills are good only on a horse back ?

I’m convinced that this is the way one should see a very touristy place like Malta – on a horseback in silence, on an empty beach at Ramla, or among falcons…

Indeed it was a happy 90-minute tour and a decent part of this crazy day.

Before the horse riding started I booked a taxi back to Valletta. I gave up with the idea of the night tour (although I pre-payed it), because I already started to feel exhausted, and I wasn’t sure we would finish in time here with horses.

In fact, I was right – the tour finished at 7, not 6:30 as it would if we started at 5 pm sharp.

My taxi was about to come at 8 pm, so by that time I planned to have dinner at the above mentioned and visited restaurant. It was dark already, but everyone said that Malta is a very law-abiding country with almost zero crime.

However going back from the rancho to the bay, I just made a single step behind the corner and saw a group of English-speaking men, probably drunk, but definitely very aggressive, screaming god knows what to god knows whom. Thanks to the high greenery and my fast reaction they didn’t notice me; I turned back and with half-running steps took the longest route to the bay, along the roadway.

Then I was in peace in my restaurant, drinking tea and waiting for my food, when I saw the notification that my cab arrived. The call centre confirmed it’s almost here, so I took my risotto and cake as take-away and hoped to eat it in the very best conditions at ‘home’

Funny but the taxi driver had dinner exactly at the same place and exactly at the same time. He finished, left, parked at the entrance of Radisson and sent the notification. Not knowing this I took my take-away bag, stood at the entrance gate of Radisson for 15 min hoping to see him arriving. And only after calling the company we managed to connect and share our experiences 🙂

What most of us expect to have at home when coming back with a piece of chocolate cake? Me personally – TEA!

I booked a studio apartment in a house which had 4 floors, with various types of accommodation, and a kitchen on the ground floor. If you provide a kitchen to your guests, which has all the cooking utensils, salt, pepper, sugar, instant coffee etc., why don’t you have some tea bags? Especially in a country where a great part of residents and tourists are from the UK.

I was so desperate… that I couldn’t agree with this unfairness. It was 8:45 pm, and I knew that in my room (floor 3, stairs) I have a list of shops in the area. Running up, finding the list and checking if any is open. Gigi shop closes at 9 pm! I’m running out checking its location – should be behind the corner, but can’t find anything open. Asking a woman passing by the street and she says it’s already closed. But I didn’t give up!

I started to check petrol stations; they’re usually 24/7. Well, the closest open one was at Luqa…

One more hope left – pharmacies. I was ready to buy chamomile and brew it. But there was no open pharmacy at 9 pm in Valletta.

So I warmed up some water in a pot (the electric kettle didn’t work) and imagined I drink tea.

That’s how this glorious day finished.

Day 3

This was the final day – in the evening I had to be in the airport. But still I had a lot of plans, why else would you book a night flight 😉

Valletta sightseeing – I had to see the St. John’s Knights city

The Three Cities across the Grand Harbour

Ta’ Qali Crafts Village

In the meantime – check out at 10, store my luggage at the office of my accommodation company by 5 pm

From 5 to 6 pm – stay enjoying some tea at a nice terrace

Not bad as for a last day. But the weather got so much worse, that actually I couldn’t complete any of these.

I woke up early to see Valletta on the sunrise and take some photos. Partially I managed to do that and also to understand that Valletta is not worth seeing for a person like me. It’s so over constructed! Once you find a high observation spot you see that it’s full of stone. I don’t really like observing architecture, checking which are ancient buildings, which are built after WW II, going to history museums etc. There was a luxurious yacht entering the port – it was the Indian Express, that was something I liked.

I went to the famous Upper Barakka Gardens – that wasn’t something special besides the facts that you can see the saluting shooting at 12 and 4 pm, and that there is a lift taking you downstairs to the boats to The Three Cities.

Heavy rain started all of a sudden on my way to the Lower Barakka Gardens. Well, heavy can’t transmit all the essence of the awful weather that day. Luckily I was on the street where my apartment is located, and luckily it was before I checked out not after. So in two minutes getting a good natural wash – both me and my phone, I entered my apartment 45 min before check out and without having a clue about what to do next – where to go, how to go, or even to go or not.

What is the best place to stay all rainy day long with your laptop? There is no cafe being happy to have you all day long, and even I can’t drink that much of tea. Then my thoughts turned towards the freelance hubs & coworkings, which wasn’t a bad idea. I found 2 places but didn’t use them – Valletta Hub and Grand Central. I remembered the Maltese glassware I wanted to buy for home in Ta’ Qali and decided to go whatever it looks like outside. So I partially kept the old plan.

I dropped my luggage at the company’s office, got my boarding pass printed because my phone’s functionality went very bad after the shower rain, and I felt in danger. I bought an umbrella and my mood went up. I understood the functionality of the bus terminal and found the places to get the Ta’Qali bus and also the airport shuttle.

Ta’ Qali Crafts Village

To Ta’ Qali take either bus #56 (get off at Villagg stop) or #53 (this stops only at Qali 1 which is 10 min walk to the crafts village). The crafts village is a great place to go especially if you are by car and have checked in luggage to bring back home all the beautiful things purchased. You actually shouldn’t buy souvenirs or presents elsewhere; here you can get really authentic crafts!

Please do not misunderstand me – far not all the items are nice, some are created for tourists, some are unique for those who can respect the hand-made work of local artists.

I was sure it’s a whole market under a single roof, with little shops of craftsmen, one after another. It would make my life easier that rainy day. However, every company has a separate house, so it’s a real crafts village, just as the name says. I wish it didn’t rain, and then I would really go into each of the houses, be in mood to film the glass-blowing, pottery, ceramic, jewelery artists. But I only had patience to walk in the rain towards the Phoenician Glass house, I didn’t even go for visiting the famous Mdina Glass company – it was 10 more minutes of walking.

Mdina Glass shop in Mdina

The glassware was great, and since they close their shop for reorganizing I spot some attractive discounts and bought three vases and three tiny candleholders, one of the vases even contains silver.

Then I had a smoothie in the Mediterranean Ceramics shop & café and decided that having two bags full of glassware in my hands means that I should go get my luggage and head towards the dry airport with lots of tea. After all, the weather was really encouraging me to get settled down.

So I hopped on the bus going back to Valletta, when there called a cab to pick me up from the luggage office and get me asap to the airport. The weather was so bad and my new umbrella got so broken that there was no way to walk around getting back to the terminal for the airport shuttle.

That’s how I ended up in the airport 7 hours before the departure 🙂

Restaurants, breakfast places in Valletta. Buying silver in Valletta

Oh, and by the way, during my ‘walk’ under the rain in Valletta I found some very good looking and not pompous restaurants:

Café Volare – I would enjoy having here a breakfast. A simple café with fresh orange juice, coffee, pastries, ice-cream, salads and of course English breakfast))

Several restaurants at Triq San Qwann and St. John square – sorry, my phone was already half-dead of humidity, I couldn’t mark the names under the rain, but you’ll definitely find them once there!

And by the way, the famous Caffe Cordina – I entered to have a breakfast, since everyone recommends it… But it’s just the same story as with Fontanella in Mdina – unfriendly, crowded, nothing special when it comes to food. I left after I saw the unpleasant atmosphere inside, understood that the waiters wouldn’t serve me fast enough and not finding anything appetizing in their menu and display case.

I also noted some shops on my way! If you want to buy silverware & jewellery go to Republika street, you’ll find at least three shops which are actually workshops. There you can see the craftsmen in the process of creation, and also get factory prices!